3 civic bodies, 3 parties: Polls will be a litmus test

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

THIS YEAR will mark Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s first big electoral test in Delhi after marching to a landslide victory in 2015, as he leads his party into elections for Delhi’s three municipal corporations slated for April, 2017.

A victory here means political dominance for the AAP, a morale boost for the incumbent BJP and a chance to regain relevance for the Congress.

The elections may throw up a further conundrum: A three-way split with each party winning one municipal corporation, which could serve to deepen the crisis in administering Delhi that began after the AAP assumed power and got into a tussle with the Lieutenant-governor.

The AAP and the BJP, which is in power at the Centre and wields considerable power in Delhi, have locked horns and traded charges over a number of issues, including salaries, maintenance of roads and controlling air pollution.

Together, the three municipal corporations provide civic amenities to 95 per cent of Delhi’s population.

While the BJP faces an uphill task of battling a 10-year anti-incumbency, the Congress sees the municipal polls as a way of becoming relevant again in Delhi’s politics. In 2015, the Congress did not win a single seat in Delhi. But the party, emboldened by the victory of four seats in the civic bypolls earlier this year, claims they have been gaining ground.

The last two years have also been marred with financial trouble for North and East municipalities. In February, the entire civic machinery — including doctors, teachers, safai karamcharis,gardenersandcontractualworkers — went on strike as salaries were delayed and no amount of austerity helped replenish the coffers. Patients were turned away from hospitals, students were asked to stay at home and garbage spilled on to the streets.

The North MCD had to borrow Rs 190 crore from its employees Provident Fund, which it called an ‘internal loan’, so it could pay salaries.

The BJP stated that the corporations depend on funds from the state government, and the state pointed to the inefficiency of the BJP in running the corporations. The Congress also stated that the municipality of a state like Delhi should not have to depend on funds from the state.

The Congress is already going door-todoor and positioning itself as a “positive alternative”. Party spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee told The Indian Express that the Congress is focusing on solutions for Delhi, keeping in mind four key areas — primary health, primary education, waste management and financial management of the corporations.

“We are on the ground and we have a roadmap to restore the financial position of the MCDS, which we will execute when we are in power, of which we are very hopeful,” she said.

BJP state unit chief Manoj Tiwari, who will be spearheading the BJP campaign for the civic polls, admits that the working of the MCDS needs improvement. However, he is confident that the people have faith in the party. “We have to change some rules and loopholes that cause the image of MCDS to be seen as corrupt, but there is a lot that the corporation has given to the people and our campaign will be against corruption at all levels,” he said. The party chief added that he fears Delhi will have to go through a logjam of civic services if AAP is voted into power in the corporations because, “Even with a full majority, the state government claims that the CM cannot function, therefore if they repeat this in the MCD, how will the state work?”

Convenor of the AAP Delhi unit Dilip Pandey is confident that the party will “take the MCDS by storm” in the elections. He said the BJP has failed to understand the administrative complexity of the MCD. “The MCDS have been driven by the corrupt politics of the BJP, stalling development in the city,” Pandey told The Indian Express.

Holding the BJP responsible for the financial collapse of the corporations, Pandey alleged that “the MCD is ridden with corruption and mis-governance” because of which they are failing at their most basic obligatory functions.

Illustration: Manali Ghosh