MCD elections: Amit Shah, Arvind Kejriwal trade barbs over a ‘cleaner’ Delhi

On October 17, the ministry of home affairs notified the delimitation report to carve out 250 municipal wards, taking another step towards holding civic polls which were earlier scheduled to be held in April 2022

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday upped the ante on the Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital as people gear up for the municipal elections.

Union home minister Amit Shah (left) with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi. (PTI File Photo)

Attacking the CM Arvind Kejriwal-led party, Shah asked the people to choose between ‘AAP nirbhar’ (dependent on the AAP) or ‘Aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) and blamed the ruling government for treating municipal corporations with a “second-class behaviour” by withholding funds worth ₹40,000 crore to render them dysfunctional.

Shah, who was inaugurating a waste to energy plant near Tughlaqabad, said that AAP thinks the people of Delhi will turn against municipal corporations of Delhi (MCD) due to lack of funds but the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will carry a door-to-door campaign to highlight the treatment meted out by the Delhi chief minister towards MCD.

The home minister said that the unification of the MCDs will enable the civic body to create an ecosystem to make Delhi “the best capital in the world”.

“Kejriwal ji believes that press interviews lead to development and advertisement can delude the people of country but such delusions cannot go on forever and people will eventually face reality. AAP wants to make you ‘AAP nirbhar’ and we want to make Delhi ‘aatmanirbhar’. The people of Delhi have to decide,” Shah said.

“They (the three MCDs) had to be unified because you stopped their funds worth ₹40,000 crore. Was it not the responsibility of the Delhi government to provide these funds? AAP has betrayed people with its narrow-minded politics. I want to assure people that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre will not let any work in Delhi halt,” Shah said, calling the Tehkhand waste-to-energy plant a “gift” to Delhiites.

On October 17, the ministry of home affairs notified the delimitation report to carve out 250 municipal wards, taking another step towards holding civic polls which were earlier scheduled to be held in April 2022.

Shah on Thursday attempted to project the choice between BJP and AAP in terms of “politics of advertisement” or “politics of development”.

“The people of Delhi need to decide between politics of advertisements and politics of development. Do people like publicity politics or politics of change?” Shah asked.

In a series of tweets, Kejriwal responded to Shah’s barbs and said that the latter was asking for another three years to carry out the work that has not been done in the last 15 years of BJP rule in MCD.

“Why should people trust you? You will not be able to do it (make Delhi garbage free). Now we will show how Delhi can be made garbage free,” Kejriwal said.

“How much money has been provided to the MCD by the central government? Both were led by BJP governments... Double-engine government... Do not make excuses for your failure. Tell people what work has been carried out by you in 15 years. In the next MCD elections, people have to decide if they want ‘Koode ki Delhi’ (garbage Delhi) or clean Delhi,” the CM tweeted.