From cradle to crematorium, the MCD role in Delhi’s daily life is all-pervading
NEW DELHI: In India’s bustling capital, in, inarguably, the country’s most important Union Territory (with an elected government to boot), the lives of roughly 20 million residents are not as impacted by either the central government or the UT’S government as they are by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
From registering births, deaths, and marriages to clearing garbage; from overseeing primary education to providing health care services; from maintaining colony roads to managing crematoriums, MCD touches 20 million lives, several times, every day.
With an annual budget of ₹15,200 crore and around 150,000 employees, MCD is usually the first port of call for everything. How Delhi’s residents feel about the city-state is usually a result of the quality of their interactions with MCD, not the government of the UT or the Centre. And how they experience Delhi is usually a function of the body’s efficiency in managing public services and spaces.
MCD’S policies also impact the host of taxes and levies the city’s residents pay directly or indirectly (such as property taxes or transfer taxes).
With MCD elections around the corner (December 4), it is important that the 14.6 million people eligible to vote in them recognise this.
The Capital’s civic polls on December 4 will pit a bunch of municipal veterans against each other, with 10 former mayors, four former assembly leaders of Opposition, and several municipal committee chairpersons vying for a seat.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping it can seal a fourth term in the civic body on counting day (December 7), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking wrest control of MCD for the first time.
In north Delhi’s Keshavpuram ward, the BJP’S Yogesh Verma, a former House leader, will face off against Vikas Goyal from the AAP. Verma was elected councillor from the Keshavpuram ward in the 2017 elections and Goyal won from the Wazirpur ward, but this year’s delimitation exercise (necessitated after the three civic bodies were reunified) has ensured that the new ward is a combination of the two erstwhile demarcations.
Verma called his rival a “new entrant”.
“I will fight this election on the basis of the work I have carried out as deputy mayor, leader of the House and zone chairman. Development work worth ₹13 crore was undertaken under my leadership, despite the municipal corporation’s financial crisis – the ward is now garbage vat-free. My political experience and the fact that I have lived here for 40 years will work to my advantage,” Verma said.
Goyal, meanwhile, insisted that the ward is his “home turf”.
“Garbage is the biggest issue here. We promise corruptionfree governance,” Goyal said.
In southwest Delhi, erstwhile south MCD mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat is being challenged in Dwarka-b, a ward reserved for women, by the AAP’S Sudha Sinha, who heads a federation of group housing societies. Sinha said that Sehrawat, the sitting councillor, has not delivered on her promises.
“My competitor is the mayor but has not been able to resolve basic issues of the residents or wasn’t aware of them. My experience from working with residents’ welfare associations and 352 groups housing societies equips me to deal with residents’ issues,” Sinha said.
Sehrawat did not respond to requests for comment.
In the eastern part of the city, another interesting battle will be fought in Vinod Nagar ward between BJP’S Ravi Negi and AAP’S Kuldeep Bhandari. Negi came close to a major upset in the 2020 elections, nearly defeating deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the Patparganj assembly seat.
Negi secured 66,956 votes against Sisodia, who clinched the election with 70,163 votes. Negi’s municipal election challenger Bhandari switched allegiance from the Congress to the AAP this February. Both have strong support bases within residents from Uttarakhand, which makes the ward election a key battle.
This year’s elections will also see the return of Farhad Suri, former mayor of the unified MCD in 2006, who will contest the election from the Daryaganj ward.
According to political experts, other key contestants include erstwhile north MCD mayor Sardar Avtar Singh from Civil Lines, Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh from Mukherjee Nagar ward. Besides Goyal in Keshavpuram,
the AAP has fielded other former leaders of Opposition as candidates such as Anil Lakra, former LOP in North, in Mundka ward; and Prem Chauhan, outgoing LOP in erstwhile south MCD, in Dakshinpuri ward.
While the BJP has fielded 52 former councillors in these elections, senior leaders of the AAP said that most of its candidates are from ordinary households and the party has always believed in giving “voice to the common man”.