Eye on municipal polls, BJP plans public outreach

During this one-and-a-half month programme, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta will be covering two assembly constituencies in a day where he, along with senior party leaders, will be meeting people from different walks of life.

Gearing up for the municipal polls scheduled next year, the Delhi BJP will start a public outreach programme from February to tell people about how the functioning the three civic bodies has been adversely affected due to alleged non-payment of dues by the AAP government in Delhi.

This outreach is planned at a time when the BJP and the AAP are at loggerheads over municipal funds. (Representative Image) (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

During this one-and-a-half month programme, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta will be covering two assembly constituencies in a day where he, along with senior party leaders, will be meeting people from different walks of life.

This outreach is planned at a time when the BJP and the AAP are at loggerheads over municipal funds. While the BJP has been claiming that the Delhi government owes the corporations ₹13,000 crore (approx.), the AAP is campaigning against the BJP alleging a ₹2,500 crore scam in the functioning of North Delhi Municipal Corporation. The AAP is holding mohalla sabhas since January 7 till January 15 to highlight the alleged scams by the BJP-led corporations.

Gupta said, “It is important to tell people about how the AAP government has failed people of Delhi on multiple counts. The government has made it impossible for the three civic bodies to function, as it is yet to release ₹13,000 crore. The corporations are unable to pay salaries to its employees, as they don’t have adequate funds. We will also highlight the failures of the Delhi government. I will be meeting various group of people where we will also discuss about the work done by the central government. We will start this outreach programme from February.”

The BJP is eyeing a fourth consecutive term in the civic bodies, elections for which are due in March-April next year. In 2017, the party had won 181 out of 270 wards spread across three civic bodies despite anti-incumbency.

The BJP has decided to start its preparations much in advance. Giving details of the outreach programme, a Delhi BJP spokesperson said, “We will cover two assembly constituencies in a day. In each constituency, we will meet people from different sections of society. A team in each constituency will soon be formed which will plan meetings with resident welfare associations, professionals, traders, etc. We will also cover slums and unauthorised colonies.”

AAP senior leader and in-charge of municipal corporation issues Durgesh Pathak said,”The BJP is in power in the municipal corporations for the last 15 years and they have done so much corruption that today the corporations have no money to pay the salaries to their employees. On one hand the poor employees of the BJP-ruled corporations are starving and on the other hand, the BJP councillors are becoming richer.”

He added, “In the last 15 years, the BJP has transformed the MCDs into a den of corruption. The BJP has only gifted three huge landfills to the citizens of Delhi. If you go anywhere in Delhi you will see heaps of garbage, and during monsoon Delhi faces waterlogging because the BJP-ruled MCDs neither clean the capital nor the drains of the city.”

Pathak added, “There is a scam of ₹2,500 crores in the MCDs, which is the biggest scams in the history of Delhi. This scam is bigger than the Commonwealth Games scam. To divert the attention of the citizens of Delhi from these massive scams, the BJP-ruled MCD has come up with such fabricated allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party government. To build a house in Delhi, owners need to pay bribes to the MCD. The MCD councillors take money on per lintel basis to build any new house in Delhi from the owners.”

He added, “The Aam Aadmi Party believes that the BJP has no moral right to continue ruling the MCD. The Aam Aadmi Party demands that the BJP should immediately resign from the MCD and hold fresh elections. The Aam Aadmi Party believes that the citizens of Delhi have made up their mind to throw BJP out of the power in the MCD.”