BJP Well-Prepared and will Easily Win MCD Elections Next Month: Ex-mayors

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 10th Nov. The BJP is “well-prepared” for the upcoming civic elections in Delhi and expects a “comfortable victory,” former mayors of the city from the party claimed.

Many senior BJP leaders who served as mayors in the former three municipal corporations – NDMC, SDMC, and EDMC – have expressed confidence that the party will win over 150 wards in the high-stakes elections, which are being held for the first time following the new delimitation exercise.

The municipal elections in Delhi will be held on December 4, with votes being counted on December 7.

The municipal elections in 2022 are widely viewed as a three-way fight between the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the Congress, but former BJP mayors claim the party will “rout all opposition” to reclaim power.

The BJP has ruled the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which was divided in 2012 and then reunified this year, for three consecutive terms. Subhash Arya, a veteran BJP leader and former South Delhi mayor who served as Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition during the unified MCD period, said, “The reduction of wards from 272 to 250 will only benefit the BJP.”

‘Our party will win 150-200 seats, and register a comfortable victory in the polls. The work done by the three corporations till their merger earlier this year, will translate into votes. Both AAP and Congress will lose,” he said.

When asked if the landfill issue would be a major issue in the polls, Arya, 78, said, “The AAP is making it an issue. The poll issues will be corruption and development.”

The AAP is planning to make landfill sites a major campaign issue, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has even stated that this time, Delhi will vote for a party that will clean up the national capital rather than one that has created “mountains of garbage.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed on Wednesday that the BJP-led MCD removed garbage from the Ghazipur landfill site and dumped it in nearby areas to “create the impression” that its height had decreased.

Interacting with reporters after visiting the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi, he also stated that people will vote for the AAP in the upcoming municipal elections to clear the “garbage of the BJP,” and that if the Arvind Kejriwal-led party comes to power in the MCD, the city’s “mountains” of trash will vanish in five years.

Former South Delhi mayor Mukesh Suryan expressed confidence, saying, “The BJP will easily win this civic election.”

”Our preparations are in full swing, and we will win at least 150 seats in the polls. The AAP is trying to bring landfill issues to divert the attention of people, but we are confident of our performance,” he claimed.

Former NDMC and EDMC mayors agreed with Arya and Suryan, saying the BJP was poised for an “easy victory” due to its preparations and groundwork.

Former mayor of North Delhi, Jai Prakash said, ”BJP-led MCD has been working on sanitation issues, from door-to-door collection of garbage to reducing heights of the three landfill sites, besides the long-term plan for overall remediation of the three (landfill) sites. People have seen that, so they will vote for it”.

Bhalaswa, Okhla, and Ghazipur are the three landfill sites in Delhi.

He claimed that the AAP-led Delhi government has failed to provide funds to the MCD and has “shirked” its responsibility for municipal waste management. Prakash also inquired as to why the National Green Tribunal ordered the Delhi government to pay Rs 900 crore in environmental compensation.

The NGT ordered the Delhi government to pay Rs 900 crore in environmental compensation for improper solid municipal waste management in October, stating that “citizens cannot be faced with an emergency situation due to a lack of governance.” Former East Delhi mayor Naveen Jain stated that “in the last five to six years, the height of the Ghazipur landfill site has been reduced by 50-60 ft, and efforts are underway to further reduce it.”

”But, we feel, the major poll issue will be the AAP government’s excise policy and other issues related to governance,” he said.

This will be the first civic election held following the new delimitation exercise, and it will take place between the two phases of the Gujarat assembly elections, which will take place on December 1 and 5.

Soon after the date was announced, both the BJP and the AAP expressed confidence that they would win. The Delhi Congress claimed that it had been laying the groundwork for the MCD elections for a year. Kejriwal, the leader of the AAP, has accused the BJP of creating mountains of garbage in the city during their nearly 15-year rule in civic bodies.

The BJP won 181 of the 270 wards in the 2017 civic election. Due to the death of two candidates, no polling could be held on those seats. The AAP had won 48 wards, while the Congress had won 27.