The carving of the erstwhile MCD into three, in 2012, was done to “decentralise” the large local body. Archive The Centre’s intervention to push for reunification of the three municipal corporations in the national capital, barely about a month before the Aam Aadmi Party, BJP and Congress were to fight it out on the ground, has prompted a bitter slugfest over the timing of the move.
While the middle rank and karyakartas of the BJP were not aware that election dates would not be announced on Wednesday, the top leadership of Delhi BJP, including its president Adesh Gupta and leader of opposition in Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, had been pushing the move for quite some time in meetings with the central leadership, sources said.
A top BJP leader told The Indian Express that in October, the state unit started pushing for the merger of the three MCDs. They felt the need, sources said, as a perception had begun to form that it was better to have AAP in power in the civic bodies so there can be more coordination between the MCDs and the Delhi government.
On Wednesday, the AAP lashed out at the BJP, saying that the intervention was made at this time because the party knew the MCD polls will not go in its favour.
“We know that in the last 15-16 years, the BJP has wrought corruption in the MCDs, all people are saddened by that and the BJP is aware of this. Now that the dates were going to be declared, the BJP panicked. They know that even their surveys say that the AAP is going to get 250 seats in the polls… The BJP does not have the courage to face the people of Delhi and to face timely elections. Unification is an excuse. What will happen with unification? Now 272 councillors are elected from their wards and sit in three different halls after unification, they will sit in the same hall. That’s all,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
In fact, leaders in both AAP and BJP believe that the move will not do much to change the voters’ minds.
“Unification is a policy matter that affects the MCD internally. The voter still has to vote for a candidate. How and who they vote for does not matter – people only care about the work that their councillor can get done for them. The problem with trifurcation is that it created a financially untenable situation for the East and North civic bodies. Unification may affect these things in the longer run, but electorally, it won’t change much,” admitted a senior BJP leader.
However, an AAP leader said that while it will not prevent his party from dislodging the BJP, the move can break the momentum the party will have if it wins the Punjab polls.
Sisodia, meanwhile, alleged that the poll body was “scared”. “Why is the EC scared of the Central government? The Constitution empowers the EC to not bow before any government to conduct fair and timely elections. But the way it has knelt today has raised a big danger. Tomorrow, if the government wants, it won’t let elections be conducted in states if it thinks that it will lose. Tomorrow if Modi ji thinks they may lose national elections, he will get that cancelled.”
One BJP leader said the move could provide much needed oxygen to a party besieged by allegations of corruption and mismanagement. “Unification can help the party send a message to the public that they can now fix the fund crisis if voted to power again,” he said.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Kumar meanwhile said both the BJP and AAP were trying to postpone the polls as Congress has been getting overwhelming support from the people of Delhi.
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