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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday appealed Centre to expedite the process of the municipal election in the national capital. Kejriwal said that the date of the MCD polls was to be announced on March 9, but the same day Centre wrote to the election commission to combine all three civic bodies ( South Delhi Municipal Corporation, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, and East Delhi Municipal Corporation) into one. Kejriwal said that the main motive of the Centre was not to unify the three MCDs. Kejriwal claimed the State Election Commission's (SEC) decision showed that the BJP has conceded defeat and asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi "would not allow the conduct elections in the country now".
"Had they wanted, they would've done it in last seven years. The motive was to postpone polls," Kejriwal said.
"I appeal to the PM with folded hands that if we force Election Commission to cancel elections, it weakens it and the country. We've to protect the nation," the Deli Chief Minister said today.
The Centre is planning to bring the bill in the budget session of Parliament to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi as the EC deferred the announcement of the election schedule for the civic bodies.
The Commission said that it has received a communication from Lt Governor Anil Baijal regarding the unification of MCDs, adding that it is examining the LG's letter and hence, has decided to announce the election schedule later.
"The Commission is examining the said communication and hence has decided to announce the election schedule later".
Parliament's Budget Session will resume from Monday.
All three corporations in the city are currently ruled by the BJP, which has been controlling the civic bodies since the trifurcation of the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2012.
Delhi has three civic bodies -- North, South, and East Delhi municipal corporations -- and the last civic polls in the city were held in April 2017.
While the NDMC and the SDMC have 104 wards each, the EDMC has 64 wards.
In the last MCD polls in Delhi, the BJP registered an impressive victory, returning to power in the three corporations by winning 181 of the 272 wards.
Its closest rival, the AAP, managed to win only 49 wards, while the Congress bagged 31 wards in the 2017 elections.
Independent candidates won three wards in North Delhi, four in South Delhi, and one in East Delhi.
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