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After Delhi, AAP eyes Bengaluru civic body
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections has given the party visibility in Karnataka, and it hopes to replicate the success during the local body polls in Bengaluru
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections has given the party visibility in Karnataka, and it hopes to replicate the success during the local body polls in Bengaluru.
AAP won the Delhi MCD elections with 134 seats, the BJP bagged 104, and the Congress won just nine in the 250-member municipal corporation.
“People of Delhi have elected AAP in the MCD election as they have witnessed the achievements of CM Arvind Kejriwal-led government. The results of the MCD elections have proved that the people of the urban areas are getting attracted to the Aam Aadmi Party in a big way, and the same result is expected in the BBMP elections,” AAP Bengaluru president, Mohan Dasari, said in a statement.
Dasari further said the party is confident of winning the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections with a huge margin. However, he alleged that the ruling party is postponing the BBMP polls, citing various reasons.
“(Like Delhi) The AAP will win the BBMP elections with a huge margin. BJP leaders are aware of this through surveys by private organisations. That is why they are doing everything to postpone the BBMP elections,” Dasari said.
The BBMP has been without an elected council since September 2020. The elections to the city’s civic body have been delayed by the state government citing delimitation of wards and reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBC) communities, as mandated by the Supreme Court.
Last week, the Karnataka government informed the High Court that it needs more time to conduct the elections to the BBMP.
On November 30, the government filed an Interlocutory Application (IA) before the Karnataka high court seeking three months to issue notification onward reservation.
“The BJP, which was in power in MCD for the last 15 years, had given Delhi a bad name through shoddy works. The BJP, in its quest for power, had forgotten to respond to the sentiments of the people. Even in Bengaluru, the BJP is making the same mistake. The people of Bengaluru are waiting for elections to teach BJP a lesson. No matter how many tricks they use to postpone the elections, they must be held. Whenever the elections are held, AAP will win,” Dasari said.
Former Bengaluru city police commissioner and AAP state vice-president, Bhaskar Rao, also said the MCD election gave AAP a visibility in Karnataka. “We were a state party, but now we have become a national party,” Rao said.
Rao said, while the AAP has been demanding that the BBMP elections be held at the earliest, the other parties in the state have made sure that the polls are postponed. “Now, whether they hold BBMP elections or not, we must muster our strength to face the Assembly elections.”
“The other parties are deliberately delaying the elections. Unfortunately, the high court is also not calling the shots. The BJP and the Congress have ensured that these elections don’t happen. If left to them, they will postpone it beyond the assembly elections scheduled next year,” Rao said.
“These 27 elected representatives, the MLAs, have crores of money, which otherwise had to be divided among 244 people. This is killing democracy by not conducting elections...We are awaiting the high command’s go-ahead on our next course of action and legal remedy regarding the elections,” Rao said.
Rao said the AAP has good prospects in the upcoming elections in the state, adding that people can see the “nefarious designs” of the parties who have been given power more than two times. “We feel that the progressive people of Karnataka will give us a window of opportunity. We have to gear up to the mandate.”
