CM Arvind Kejriwal claims BJP scared of AAP as it will be wiped out in civic polls
The postponement of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections has created a political turmoil in the state as Aam Aadmi Party convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the delay and said that his party will quit politics if the civic polls are held on time.
The Union cabinet On Tuesday approved the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, which is aimed at the unification of the three MCDs. The bill is expected to be tabled during the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.
Addressing the media outside the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday, Kejriwal said: “I challenge the BJP, if you have courage, get the MCD elections held immediately. If you win, we will leave politics. The BJP first coerced the State Election Commission to defer the elections and is now on track to delay it for months through an amendment. If elections get cancelled like this, will there be any point left to this democracy?”
He further said: “The BJP claims to be the largest political party in the world. The largest party in the world is scared of a small party like AAP. They’re scared of fighting a small municipal election in Delhi. Shame on the BJP.”
Claiming that the BJP would be facing a defeat in the polls, Kejriwal said we all know that the BJP will be wiped out in the MCD elections.
“The BJP is postponing the MCD elections because all the three corporations of Delhi are being merged. Can elections be postponed because of this? Tomorrow if the BJP senses that the party can lose Gujarat, will they merge Gujarat and Maharashtra to avert polls? Can Lok Sabha elections be postponed by making such an excuse?” Kejriwal asked.
Upon receiving a message from the Centre about the unification of the civic bodies, the State Election Commission (SEC) postponed the announcement of the dates for the MCD polls.
The AAP recently filed a petition at the Supreme Court to provide directives for the MCD elections to be scheduled without any intervention from the central government.
At present, the BJP has been ruling over the three MCDs. In the 2017 MCD election, the BJP secured 181 out of 270 seats in the three municipal corporations (North, South, and East), while AAP secured 48 votes and Congress got 29 votes.