Eyes on AAP as it makes debut in municipal polls

SEC fixes April 22 for elections, makes it clear EVMs to be used

After its failure to open an account in Goa and to gain a majority in the Punjab state elections, all eyes are on debutant Aam Aadmi Party which will be facing a crucial test in the upcoming polls for 272 municipal wards in the national capital on April 22.

The civic polls will also be a referendum on the AAP government’s performance after its electrifying victory, winning 67 of the 70 Assembly seats in 2015.

The party’s major challenge will be the BJP which has been ruling the three municipal bodies for 10 consecutive years. The polls will also throw a challenge before the Congress which could not retain even a single Assembly seat even after ruling the city for 15 years.

Announcing the poll dates, State Election Commission chief Sanjay Srivastava said that the results will be announced on April 25. The nomination process will begin from March 27 and April 3 would be the last date for filing nominations.

“The party welcomes the poll dates announced by the honourable election commission. The BJP and the Congress have turned Delhi into a garbage bin and a den of corruption. People of Delhi will exercise their franchise in the upcoming polls to wipe out the BJP and Congress — just the way they did in the Assembly polls two years ago,” AAP Delhi convenor Dilip Pandey said.

India’s big cities do not elect mayors directly. The devolution of power, funds and functionaries from the Centre to the state and to the corporations is worse in bigger cities. Since the level of political engagement at ward-level is quite low, voter turnout is less in civic polls — Srikanth Viswanathan, CEO Janaagraha