Delhi State Chief Arvind Kejriwal Lashes Out at Federal Government Over Delaying Civic Polls

The Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDs) presently govern 11 districts of the capital city. The MCD was trifurcated in 2012 into the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Delhi State Chief and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday lashed out at the federal government over delay in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls while urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let the civic body elections take place.

He also sought to know from Prime Minister Modi if the parliamentary elections too would be stalled in a similar fashion if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it wished to bring in a presidential system instead of a parliamentary system in the country.

The federally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governs the MCDs, while AAP rules the city administration of Delhi.

During a media briefing, Kejriwal said that the date for MCD polls was to be announced at 5 p.m. on 9 March. But about an hour before the scheduled time, the federal government wrote to the State Election Commission (SEC) to combine all three civic bodies into one, and that the elections should be delayed.

The AAP chief said: "Forcing the election commission to cancel elections is unprecedented, unconstitutional, and bad for democracy".

He even questioned the intentions of the BJP.

"The BJP has been in power for 7-8 years now. If they had to combine the three bodies, why didn't they do it all these years? Why write to the Election Commission just an hour before the scheduled announcement of the dates for the MCD polls", stated Kejriwal whose party achieved an impressive victory on 10 March in the Punjab state polls.

The federal government is planning to table a bill in the budget session of parliament, resuming on Monday, to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi.

"Postponement of the MCD election is neither right for democracy nor is the state election commission bowing down to such pressure", the AAP chief said. "I appeal to PM Modi not to cancel the elections. This will weaken the Election Commission and, in turn, weaken the nation".

On Wednesday, the Delhi State Election Commission deferred announcing the schedule for municipal polls after getting a communication from the federal government.

State Election Commissioner S. K. Srivastava told reporters: "I have received some communication from the central government at 4:30 p.m., so I am not able to announce the dates right now".

It will take another five to seven days to announce the dates, he added.

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