North and east agency budgets antipeople, focus on corruption: AAP

NEWDELHI: Opposing the Bjp-led north and east municipal corporations’ proposal of levying new taxes, Aam Aadmi Party convener and state chief minister Arvind Kejriwal suggested that instead they take steps to combat corruption in the civic bodies.

The party on Wednesday termed the proposals as ‘anti-people’ and ‘short sighted’ which would hurt the common man.

“There is no need to increase house tax in MCD. What is reqd is to reduce corruption. If u remove corruption, u will save so much money that u will be able to actually reduce house tax (sic),” Kejriwal wrote in a tweet on Thursday.

“Instead of introducing three new taxes, the EDMC should first work on correcting the already existing tax collection,” the party said in a statement, referring to the ‘zero’ tax budget tabled by the Delhi finance minister Manish Sisodia.

On Wednesday, AAP workers led by MLA Sanjeev Jha and leader of Opposition in north corporation, Rakesh Kumar, staged a protest at the Civic Centre against the revised budget estimates. “The mismanagement in the collection of taxes is an open secret. The introduction of new taxes makes it clear that the BJP has failed to combat corruption and mismanagement,” said Dilip Pandey, senior AAP leader who heads the ‘shadow’ cabinets constituted by the party to keep a tab on the ‘corruption’ in the three civic bodies.