MCD polls ‘cancelled’ under Centre’s pressure: Kejriwal

An SEC official underlined the elections have not been cancelled, postponed or deferred and that only the announcement of poll dates has been deferred

New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday criticised the State Election Commission (SEC) over the postponement of announcement of the civil polls schedule in Delhi and said forcing “cancellation of elections” is unprecedented, unconstitutional and bad for democracy.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (PTI)

Kejriwal wondered what kind of pressure was put on the state election commissioner SK Srivastava, who is retiring in April. He asked Srivastava to go public with the pressure or threats he was facing. “You should not succumb to pressure... The entire country is with you. It is a matter of the country.” He said it was wrong to “postpone” the elections. “It is also wrong the SEC buckled under the Centre’s pressure. It undermines the authority of the poll body.”

Kejriwal called the “cancellation” of the election dangerous for democracy and feared it will set a wrong precedent. “What if before the Lok Sabha polls, it is decided the parliamentary system is not up to mark and there is a need for a presidential system? Kejriwal or [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi may not be there in future, but the country will always be there. The country should not become weak.”

Kejriwal said if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre wanted to unify the three corporations, why did it not do so over the last eight years. He questioned why just before the scheduled press conference of the watchdog for the announcement of poll dates was the idea conveyed.

An SEC official underlined the polls have not been cancelled, postponed or deferred. The announcement of dates has been postponed because the SEC has over a month for conducting the elections, the official added. “The announcement was postponed for some days because we received a communication from the Centre, stating it has plans to unify the three municipal corporations. We decided to postpone the announcement of the poll schedule. We are taking legal opinion on the matter. It is wrong to allude that the polls have been postponed. The elections have to be completed before May 18.. .we still have time. The election process normally takes about 30 days and hence the commission has sufficient time to conduct the elections well before the expiry of the term of the corporations,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), one of the largest local bodies in the world, was trifurcated in 2012 for administrative efficiency. The BJP has dominated the civic polls since then.

Tanvir Aeijaz, who teaches political science at Ramjas College, said SEC was not obliged to follow communications from the Centre. “The conduct of elections to the municipalities is constitutionally vested in SEC. SEC is an autonomous constitutional body. It has the powers to superintend, direct and control the conduct of local bodies elections.” He said the local government, particularly powers of the municipal corporation, are a state subject. “...in the case of Delhi, due to multiplicity of authorities, the power to reorganise civic bodies is with the Centre. But in no circumstance, the Centre can transgress into the powers of SEC as it would be a violation of the [Constitution’s] federal principles.”