Kejriwal alleges Delhi EC 'bribed or pressured' by Centre over postponing MCD polls

Lashing out at the Election Commission (EC) for postponing the Delhi municipal polls, CM Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, alleged that the SEC was either threatened or bribed. Kejriwal claimed that the Centre wanted to postpone polls and was just citing unifying the 3 municipal polls as an excuse. MCD polls were to be held in April, but now has been postponed.

Kejriwal: 'MCD polls delayed not okay'

"Date for MCD polls was to be announced at 5 pm on March 9 but the same day an hour ago. Centre wrote to State EC to combine all 3 civic bodies into one, & that polls should be delayed. EC agreed to do so. The State Election Commissioner must reveal if he was threatened (by Centre) with ED, I-T, CBI raids or has been given a post-retirement role after April," said Kejriwal.

He added, "Main motive wasn't the unification of all 3 MCDs. Had they wanted, they would've done it in last 7 yrs. Motive was to postpone polls. I appeal to the PM with folded hands that if we force EC to cancel elections, it weakens it & the country. We've to protect the nation".

On Wednesday, the State Election Commission said the central government plans to bring a Bill in the Budget session of Parliament to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi. Hence, it said, that the poll panel is examining the communication from Lt Governor Anil Baijal, it has decided to defer the announcement of election schedule of the civic body. The SEC in its statement also said that it has sufficient time to conduct civic elections before the expiry of the term on May 18 as the election process normally takes only about 30 days.

Former chairman of the Unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi Jagdish Mamgai told PTI, "The Parliament session is underway so if the central government wants, it can withdraw the line from the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 that there will be three municipalities. Instead, the Centre will just have to mention in the Act that there will be only one MCD, which was the case earlier". Mamgai said that two months are enough to conduct elections even after unification of civic bodies.

MCD polls

AAP and BJP have locked horns over the mishandling of Delhi's civic bodies - currently ruled by BJP, with AAP alleging rampant corruption in the MCDs and BJP claiming funds withheld by Delhi govt. Incidentally, while the DMCs do come under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in 2009, the Centre delegated effective control of Delhi Municipal Corporation functions like building by-laws, allocation of central funds and carrying out performance reviews to the Delhi government. Moreover, the DMCs raise their own revenue through various activities and taxes apart from grants from the Delhi government and the Centre. AAP eyes to wrest away the MCDs from BJP which has held the three civic bodies - North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) since 2012.