Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday promised to make Delhi garbage-free, clean, and beautiful, as well as to end corruption by making building plan processes online and regularise minor alterations done to properties through one-time penalties if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wins in the December 4 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls.
He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of stopping his government’s projects as he outlined AAP’s 10 guarantees ahead of the polls. He promised to fix the parking and stray cattle issues.
Kejriwal pledged to repair MCD roads, and revamp the civic body-run schools, health care centres, and hospitals. He added MCD parks will be beautified and that all temporary workers will be regularised. Kejriwal promised timely payment of salaries, easy licensing, a conducive atmosphere for trade, and the creation of vending zones.
The BJP has controlled the municipal corporations in the Capital over the last 15 years. The AAP is banking on anti-incumbency to wrest MCD’s control.
The elections were meant to be called over eight months back. But they were aborted when the Centre decided to dissolve Delhi’s erstwhile municipal corporations and reunify them into a single MCD, a process that also involved whittling down the wards from 272 to 250.
The AAP has focused on garbage and poor sanitation in the run-up to the polls and attacked the BJP over them.
Kejriwal asked people to vote for those who work and not for those who create obstacles. He blamed the BJP for halting free yoga classes of the Delhi government and said it resulted in trouble for people.
The AAP releases a list of guarantees before every election, which is essentially its poll manifesto. On Thursday, the BJP released a “Vachan Patra” (a commitment letter) ahead of the MCD polls promising slum dwellers houses in multi-storeyed complexes near their clusters.
Kejriwal said their guarantees never fail and added most of those outlined ahead of the 2020 assembly polls have been fulfilled. He slammed the BJP saying it is not serious about the promises it makes. “They release Vachan Patra and do nothing for the next five years. Later, they change the name and bring Sankalp Patra. The BJP will throw this Vachan Patra in the dustbin soon after the MCD election.”
He cited the BJP’s manifesto for the 2017 MCD polls and said it promised to make Delhi garbage free. “…but Delhi is overflowing with garbage. They promised to bring funds directly from the Centre. They did not bring a penny,” Kejriwal said. He added the AAP government has given a lot of money to MCD.
Kejriwal said the BJP promised to fix landfill sites ahead of the 2017 polls. “Now the BJP leaders are saying the sites are everywhere which means that they do not wish to fix them. They promised to clean the markets, but they are overflowing with garbage. They promised to eradicate corruption. They accepted their councillors were corrupt and dropped all of them. But the BJP did not send them to jail …Satyendar Jain [AAP minister] was sent to jail.”
He blamed the BJP for stopping the Delhi government from delivering ration at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries. “Vote for those who build schools…”
Kejriwal said the AAP will make Delhi beautiful by fixing the problem of overflowing garbage and landfill sites by roping in global waste management experts. He promised to eradicate corruption from the MCD, calling its building department a den of corruption. “We will make the entire process of building plans easy, and take everything online so that there is a minimum human interface. Bribes for constructing buildings will also stop.”
Kejriwal promised a sustainable solution to the problem of parking. “We will also address the problems caused by stray cattle.”
He said traders are disappointed with the MCD and have to pay bribes for obtaining licenses. “We will fix it all. The sealed shops will be opened…” Kejriwal also promised to end MCD’s fund crunch. “There will be no dearth of funds when corruption is eradicated.”
He claimed MCD and the Gujarat elections are being held around the same time to strain AAP’s resources and manpower. AAP is seeking to make inroads into Gujarat, where polls are being held on December 1 and 5.
Kejriwal claimed people have made up their minds to bring AAP to power in Gujarat. “…no conspiracy can harm us,” Kejriwal said.
MCD is entrusted with civic governance, primary education, health services, sanitation, etc. In 2017, the AAP contested the MCD election for the first time and emerged as the second-biggest party.