EDMC workers’ salaries unpaid, BJP failed Delhi: Deputy CM Manish Sisodia

With less than a week left for the municipal election scheduled to be held on December 4, Sisodia, who is addressing several public meetings every day in support of party candidates, visited east Delhi areas and interacted with residents there on Monday.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia campaigned for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s municipal election candidates in the Capital’s trans-Yamuna region on Monday and said the civic body that governed the area (erstwhile EDMC) had failed the people by turning Delhi into a dumpyard and not paying sanitation workers for months.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said the civic body that governed the area (erstwhile EDMC) had failed the people by turning Delhi into a dumpyard and not paying sanitation workers for months. (HT Photo)

“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) did not clean Delhi’s garbage and turned the city into a dumpyard. Not only this, the BJP did not pay the salaries of sanitation workers for months. Even retired workers have not received their previous salaries. But, as soon as the Kejriwal government comes to power in the MCD, all salary issues of sanitation workers will be resolved. They will receive their salaries on time and all contractual workers will be made permanent,” Sisodia said.

With less than a week left for the municipal election scheduled to be held on December 4, Sisodia, who is addressing several public meetings every day in support of party candidates, visited Harsh Vihar, Saboli, Gokulpuri, Ashok Nagar, Ram Nagar East, Rohtas Nagar, Welcome Colony, Shahdara, Jhilmil and Dilshad Colony and interacted with residents there on Monday.

“People must be made aware of the fact that if they elect BJP-Congress corporators, they will spend their tenure fighting; to hasten development work, they must choose AAP corporators. Only an AAP corporator will get all the work done for the public,” Sisodia said, adding that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has readied a blueprint to make Delhi beautiful.

“The public now has expectations that AAP will come to power in the MCD and help them get rid of BJP and garbage,” Sisodia said.

A BJP spokesperson declined to comment despite repeated requests.

The BJP has controlled the municipal corporations in the Capital over the last 15 years and the AAP is banking on anti-incumbency to wrest control of the MCD. Apart from star campaigners holding roadshows, party workers are campaigning door-to-door and carrying out outreach measures.

On Monday, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha too took the ‘Kejriwal ki sarkar, Kejriwal ka paarshad (Kejriwal’s government, Kejriwal’s councillor’ campaign to Deoli, where he held multiple public meetings. “The BJP turned MCD into ‘Most Corrupt Department’ while CM Kejriwal brought Delhi worldwide respect. Delhi gave the BJP one job — to manage garbage and clean the city, but BJP failed at that too. Only AAP can fix MCD,” Chadha said, exhorting residents to vote for the AAP in the election.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal is expected to hit the Delhi campaign trail from Wednesday when electioneering for the first phase of the Gujarat assembly polls comes to an end. Kejriwal will address multiple roadshows and public meetings. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and other party bigwigs are also likely to campaign for AAP candidates later this week.

AAP, which could not win the 2017 municipal election, claims that there would be synergy between the Delhi government and the MCD if the party came to power in the municipal body. BJP has however refuted the claims, saying that under AAP the Delhi government has failed to deliver on its promises so people should not expect anything good from an AAP councillor in the MCD.