Why municipal polls are crucial
Local bodies play a key role in the everyday life of citizens. This is why robust participation in Delhi’s civic polls will help urban governance
First impressions can be deceptive. It may appear the least glamorous of India’s myriad electoral processes, but few polls hold greater influence over the life of a citizen than local body polls. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which will see a new administration elected in polls scheduled on December 4, registers births, deaths and marriages, issues trade and factory licences, clears garbage, oversees primary education, provides health care services, maintains colony roads and playgrounds, and runs crematoriums. From one’s birth to death, there are few functions that are untouched by the civic body. If grassroots democracy is the bedrock of the Republic, then civic body polls are the spine of the Indian electoral process.
Mix this everyday influence with the political dynamics of India’s most important Union Territory, Delhi, and you have the makings of a blockbuster. The newly created MCD has emerged from a months-long bitter tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It stands on the debris of three erstwhile civic bodies for the city’s northern, eastern and southern regions, a process that also involved whittling down of the wards from 272 to 250.
The AAP is hoping to wrest control of the civic body from the BJP, which has ruled the city’s municipal corporations uninterruptedly for 15 years, and complete its political domination of the national capital. It’s a prestige battle for Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal and a test of how deep the decade-old party has sunk roots in the city. Along with the results in Gujarat, the MCD poll results will determine the future course of the party and whether it can emerge as a national political alternative.
For the BJP, it is a battle to retain its last citadel in the Capital and one that gives it direct power over the lives of the city’s 20 million citizens. It is a fight it takes seriously, evident by the phalanx of CMs and Union ministers it has pressed into campaigning. The Congress is also in the fray but has appeared out of step and lacking spirit through most of the campaign. Most observers don’t expect its candidates to win beyond a handful of seats, at best.
The political battle is interesting and will have consequences for national politics. But more than in any other election, showing up to vote is far more important this time, especially for the city’s affluent colonies that show little enthusiasm for electing their local representatives. This elite exit from the political processes is not unique to Delhi — affluent enclaves in Mumbai or Bengaluru show similar apathy to the electoral process — but has a detrimental impact on processes of accountability, service delivery and local governance, prompting undemocratic solutions such as resident welfare associations.
This must not be. Robust local governance can solve many intractable problems that appear hopelessly complicated at scale. In Delhi, for example, MCD can resolve sanitation woes, garbage segregation, parking and vehicular congestion, pockmarked roads and waterlogging, and pollution — problems that affect the rich, poor and middle-class alike. To do that, it needs the full-throated support and participation of every eligible voter in Delhi. Worldclass cities have world-class local governments that are agile, powerful and responsive. To take the first step on that road, go out and vote!