PremiumThe Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh on Thursday gave a notice for zero hours in Rajya Sabha over the postponement of the municipal election in the national capital. Singh said that the State Election Commission has indefinitely postponed the Delhi MCD polls due to the interference of the Central government.
"The Central government is to bring up a bill seeking reunification of the three municipal corporations of Delhi and to elect a single mayor. There's an attempt to reduce the number of wards," the AAP MLA said in his notice to the Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha.
Calling the act of the Central government undemocratic, he said, "This decision of the State Election Commission under the pressure of the Central Government is against India's tradition for conducting free, fair and speedy elections. The MCD polls are deliberately postponed. This also shows the connivance of the Election Commission and the Central government which is unconstitutional".
A bill regarding the unification of the three civic bodies is likely to come before Parliament in the ongoing Budget session.
As per the media reports, there may be some reorganisation of wards in Delhi which might delay the elections.
The number of municipal wards in Delhi is likely to be capped at around 250. Currently, there are 272 municipal wards in the city.
The SEC had earlier this month deferred the announcement of the election schedule for the civic bodies after it received a communication from Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal saying the Centre plans to bring a Bill in the Budget session of Parliament to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi.
The SEC had also clarified that it has sufficient time to conduct civic elections before the expiry of the term on May 18 as the election process normally takes only about 30 days.
The BJP argues that reunification will "strengthen" the municipal corporation.
Erstwhile, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated into three municipal corporations, including South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), in 2011, as per Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 1911 (Delhi Act, 12 Of 2011).
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