Kejriwal makes civic poll pitch in first ‘Talk to AK’

In the first edition of his ‘Talk to AK’ show, seen as his answer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Maan Ki Baat’ and an attempt to increase Aam Aadmi Party’s national connect,the Delhi Chief Minister said his government would have achieved four times of what has been done for the city in the last 17 months had “obstacles” not been put by the Centre.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in his maiden dialogue with people ‘Talk to AK’, set the tone for next year’s municipal poll by promising to improve Delhi’s sanitation and roads if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wins it.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia at the TalkToAK programme on Sunday. (DIP/Handout)

He trained his guns on the BJP-run corporations for the city’s civic woes, alleging several times that most of Delhi’s problems were because of the municipal corporations of Delhi.

AAP won five out of 13 seats in the municipal bypolls held in May. The party has been focusing on municipal poll preparation and Kejriwal’s Sunday pitch has taken it one step further.

The national capital’s solid waste management system is very poor, Kejriwal said in response to a Hyderabad youth’s question.

“The responsibility of cleaning Delhi lies with BJP-ruled MCDs and it is in shambles. Cleaning the city is not difficult but you need the will to do it. We are doing what we can do. Cleaning the city will take a year and a half. When we win the municipal elections next year, this work will start,” he said.

The Delhi government have a combative relationship with the municipal corporation in the city. AAP workers and leaders in the past have called the corporations the ‘most corrupt body’.