All parks of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will now be out of bounds for political activities. The decision was taken in a meeting of NDMC, presided over by Congress MP Ajay Maken, on Wednesday. Interestingly, the move comes in the wake of a Congress rally organised by Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh lovely at Central Park on Sunday.
To start with, the civic body has put a complete ban on holding any kind of political rallies or meetings in the Central Park of Connaught Place. According to the agency, an immediate prohibition of any such assembly was necessary due to safety reasons.
“The whole Rajiv Chowk Metro Station functions under the Central Park. Complying with the safety norms, we cannot allow any kind of function which pulls over 2,000 people to the park. In case, a cave-in or any other untoward incident happens due to overload on the park, it will pose a grave risk to the metro network. Metro services will be severely affected besides putting the lives of commuters at risk,” said Jalaj Shrivastava, Chairman, NDMC.
Even Talkatora garden will not be allowed for any such activity, he added. The decision has come two days after the Delhi Congress organised its ‘Pol Khol Abhiyan’ against former Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal. Ironically, while the rally was a success for the Congress with senior party leaders like Shakeel Ahmed, Haroon Yusuf, Ramesh Kumar, Asif Mohammad Khan and Kiran Walia attending the event, its prominent face and MP from the New Delhi constituency Ajay Maken was conspicuous by his absence from the rally.
While granting permission for the event, the civic body had clearly stated that the rally should not have huge crowds as it may have dangerous repercussions. “The numbers were more than expected. We ourselves avoid organising any events which would pull huge crowds. We plan it at India gate most of the time,” said an official.