Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the postponement of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections and said that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will quit politics if the civic body polls are held on time.
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to "The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022", which proposes the unification of three municipal corporations in Delhi.
"The manner in which the BJP government at the Center is pressurizing state election commission to postpone the MCD elections is an affront to martyrs and democracy. They are bringing an amendment to delay the polls for months. We all know that the BJP will be wiped out in the MCD elections," said Kejriwal, while speaking to media persons outside the Delhi Assembly
He further said that the BJP even while claiming that it is the biggest political party in the world is scared of a small party (AAP) postponing a small election.
"If the BJP postpones elections due to fear of losing power in minuscule MCD, then it amounts to muzzle people's voices. I challenge the BJP to conduct the MCD polls on time. We (AAP) will quit politics if the MCD polls are held timely and the BJP wins the elections," Kejriwal said.
"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?" he asked.
The bill to merge the three civic bodies is likely to come before Parliament in the ongoing budget session.
Erstwhile, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated into three municipal corporations, including South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), in 2011, as per Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 1911 (Delhi Act, 12 Of 2011).
Earlier, State Election Commissioner SK Srivastava informed that the Centre has deferred the announcement of polling dates for the MCD election after the central government raised a few issues that are yet to be legally examined by the Election Commission.
( With inputs from ANI )
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