Will run office from protest site: Mayors

Addressing a press conference from outside CM’s residence, North corporation mayor Jai Prakash said, “We have been sitting here for the past five days, but the CM has not bothered to even talk to us.

The three mayors of the city’s three municipal corporations — north south and east — said they would run their offices from outside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence from Monday, as they continue to protest the alleged non disbursal of funds by Delhi government. The mayors said that the protest, which started on Monday, will continue till the AAP-run Delhi government releases Rs 13,000 crore to the corporations.

BJP MCD Mayors and MCD Councilors sitting in protest in front of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's residence, in New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Addressing a press conference from outside CM’s residence, North corporation mayor Jai Prakash said, “We have been sitting here for the past five days, but the CM has not bothered to even talk to us. We have decided that we will run our offices from the protest site (outside CM’s residence) from Monday. We will not leave from here till Rs 13,000 crore is released by the government.”

South corporation mayor Anamika Mithilesh Singh and East corporation mayor Nirmal Jain said development works have suffered due to the fund crunch. The corporations are unable to pay salaries to its employees on time. “These people are working hard during the Covid pandemic. Instead of helping the corporations, the government is making things difficult.”

In a statement, AAP said, “Even the mayors of BJP-ruled MCDs know that their protest is only an excuse by their high-command to harass CM Arvind Kejriwal and distract from the issue of nationwide farmers protests. The mayors are well aware that the Delhi government has given all the funds due and it is because of their corruption and inefficiency that the MCDs are facing financial ruin. Since they have decided to only protest rather than govern, it is best that they resign and let AAP run the MCDs. We will run the MCDs efficiently and within the same budget.”