AAP protests outside BJP HQ over delay in MCD elections

The Aam Aadmi Party held a protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party over the deferment of municipal polls outside the BJP Headquarters, ITO, on Monday.

The BJP is being accused of threatening and pressuring the State Election Commission to postpone the election. Several AAP workers, accompanied by party leaders, had planned to gherao the Headquarters at 10 am. However, the police erected barricades to prevent the gherao.

Many videos surfaced online where the party workers were seen to be stopped forcibly by the Delhi Police. Several leaders demanded the announcement of dates of the civic polls in the national capital. This protest caused traffic jams, leading to inconvenience among the commuters.

“There is a traffic jam on the road going from Laxmi Nagar to ITO. Request you @dtptraffic to kindly help in operating the jam,” Dhananjal Mishra expressed his inconvenience on Twitter.

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Sunday that the poll panel was set to announce the dates for three municipal corporations, however, the delay was caused by the BJP, who threatened and blackmailed the SEC.

Last week, Delhi State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava stated that he was ‘unable to announce’ the schedule during a press conference because he had received some messages from the central government around half-an-hour prior to the meeting with journalists. He also pointed out that postponing the dates would weaken the democratic system.

AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said that the elections were scheduled to take place this month, but the BJP threatened and blackmailed the SEC, causing the elections to be postponed. “The BJP believes that it can do whatever it wants in Delhi and no one would object.” Through a video conference, Pathak also shared that the party had prepared some strategies to fight the municipal election.