Kejriwal dares BJP: Hold Delhi civic polls on time and try to win

Kejriwal said Delhi residents are not bothered if the city has one or multiple municipalities,as all they want is a clean city and a corruption-free civic system

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government to conduct the municipal corporation elections in Delhi on time, and challenged that if the saffron party wins the polls, the AAP will quit politics.

CM Arvind Kejriwal criticised the BJP for using the proposal to unify the three MCDs as a tactic to delay the civic polls. (HT)

Kejriwal said Delhi residents are not bothered if the city has one or multiple municipalities,as all they want is a clean city and a corruption-free civic system.

Talking to reporters after the first day of the budget session of the Delhi assembly on Wednesday, Kejriwal criticised the BJP for using the proposal to unify the three MCDs as a tactic to delay the civic polls, which are otherwise scheduled in April.

“I challenge the BJP — if you have courage, hold the MCD elections immediately. If you win, we will leave politics there and then. BJP first coerced the state election commission to defer elections and is now on track to delay them for months through an amendment. If elections get cancelled like this, will there be any point left to this democracy? I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with folded hands — there may not be a Modi-ji or a Kejriwal tomorrow, leaders like you and I don’t matter but this country, its constitution and democracy matters and they must be protected,” the Delhi chief minister said.

Kejriwal’s remarks came a day after the Union cabinet approved a Bill to merge the three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCDs). The Bill that is aimed at amending the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 is likely to be introduced in the Parliament next week.

On March 9, the state election commission deferred the announcement of the schedule for civic elections in Delhi after it received a communication from the Centre that it intended to merge the three municipalities in Delhi.

Kejriwal said the BJP is running “scared” of a party as small as the AAP. “The BJP claims to be the largest political party all over the world. Imagine, the largest party in the whole world is scared of a small party like the AAP. They’re scared of fighting a small municipal election in Delhi. Shame on the BJP. The BJP is arguing that it is deferring elections because it wants to unify the three MCDs. Is this even a valid basis to defer an election? The Gujarat elections are up next. Will they now write to the Election Commission of India asking them to defer Gujarat elections arguing that they want to merge the state with Maharashtra? When the BJP realises they will lose the Lok Sabha elections, will they tell the EC that they want to establish a presidential system so elections can’t take place? Is the election commission so fickle that polls can be cancelled like this? BJP is headed towards a humiliating defeat in the MCD elections,” Kejriwal said.

Later (Wednesday evening), deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia held a press conference and asserted Kejriwal’s challenge to the BJP to hold the MCD on time. “The way the BJP is coercing institutions like the EC for political gains is a direct attack on this democracy. Our democracy is what matters. Don’t break the democratic system of India to win a small municipal election. This is just not acceptable,” he said.

The current terms of South, North and East Delhi municipal bodies — with 272 wards under them — will expire on May 18, May 19 and May 22 respectively. The unified MCD was trifurcated in 2012.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said Kejriwal and Sisodia’s comments reflect their “political frustration and lust for power in civic bodies’’.

“The level of statements given by the chief minister and other AAP leaders shows that they have no concern for improving municipal services or betterment of the service conditions of civic employees, the AAP leaders are just hungry for power in the civic bodies. Along with unification of the three municipal corporations, the central government is trying to improve the financial health and working of the civic body. Soon, all modalities will be completed and municipal elections will be announced,” Kapoor said.