As campaigning for April 23 municipal polls has entered the crucial stage, Political parties are not leaving any stone unturned to win the confidence of voters.
While the BJP is banking on the development works carried out by the Narendra Modi Government, the Congress, after facing a humiliating defeat in the recent assembly polls, is also trying to turn the momentum in party’s favour by putting report of Shunglu Committee in the public domain.
Winning Assembly election in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh with an overwhelming majority and Rajouri Garden bypoll in Delhi has boosted the morale of the party workers and despite of anti incumbency, the BJP seems to be gaining ground with every passing day.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is trying to make inroads in the Delhi municipal corporations has established a chord with the people through their initiatives like Mohalla Clinics that provide free treatment and medicines to people.
The party is also not leaving any stone unturned to wrest control of the three municipal corporations from the BJP and has promised house tax waiver if votes to power. The AAP is highlighting the failure of the BJP-ruled corporations in the past 10 years and the Congress leadership crisis at local level in all the meeting and party’s rallies.
The major poll plank of all the political parties has shifted from local issues that usually dominates civic election as candidates while campaigning referring work done at Central or State level by respective Governments. After a humiliating defeat in Rajouri bypoll, the AAP has decided to focus on relevance issues instead of making it Kejriwal vs Narendra Modi.
Both the Congress and the BJP would be banking on their Central leaders during the campaigning in the city. The BJP which had began its election campaign with a rally of national president Amit Shah last month, is now gearing up to bring in a brigade of stalwarts in national and regional politics. BJP Delhi president Manoj Tiwari had already started an aggressive campaign.
The Congress has also stepped up campaigning by deploying senior most leaders. The party has started its campaign by unveiling three draft plans to make corporations self reliant. All its roadmap were presented by the party’s veteran like former Finance Minister P Chidamabaram and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, and Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken, former Union Ministers Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khurshid, PC Chacko.
The entire focus of the party’s campaign is against the BJP over the issues of inconvenience faced by public due to apathy of councillors, poor sanitation in wards, dropout ratio in primary schools and lack of development among others during its electioneering.
The Congress in its aggressive campaign also proposes a slew of measures to achieve its target to provide quality education and affordable health facilities to all. It also promises to make Delhi the “cleanest and most beautiful” city in the world. It releases a draft “Clean Delhi, Breathe Delhi” to revive sanitation situation.
Intensifying party campaign, Kejrwal also said that the AAP has made all calculations related to the residential house tax and reached on calculation that it can be waved off. Kejriwal also said his party has delivered on most of its promises, including reducing the electricity charges. The leader alleged corruption was prevailing in the municipal corporations and accused councillors of making money through corrupt practices.
However, DPCC president Ajay Maken said the AAP has not fulfilled any of the promises made to the people in its election manifesto. “Where is free Wi-Fi, marshals in DTC buses, 5 lakh toilets and other tall pre-poll promises made by the AAPIJ” he asked. “In the last two years, the AAP Government’s performance in every field, including fiscal management, has been dismal”, he said.
Referring report of ‘Economic Survey’, Maken said the growth has slowed down for the first time in the last five years. “There is a revenue shortfall of approximately Rs4,500 crore in this year. Delhi used to be a fiscal surplus State. In 2013-14, when we were in power, fiscal surplus used to be 1.9% of GSDP, which has now come down to alarmingly 0.24 percent,” he added.
Maken also launched an attack on the BJP by alleging the municipal corporations are on verge of financial bankruptcy due to the inefficiency and corruption of the BJP councillors.
JD(U) candidates are also not behind. They have intensified their voters’ contact programme. They have been referring good governance done by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. All JD(U) candidates are directed to visit door-to-door and talking to the people of their constituencies.
The party’s national general secretary and Delhi unit in-charge Sanjay Jha while talking to The Pioneer said “I am very confident that the voters of Delhi will support us for all that we have done in Bihar, and for all that we are planning to do in Delhi as well.
“We are delighted at the incredible response from people and our candidates are attracting huge crowds in their public meetings and in outreach programme. The interests of poorvanchalis are always neglected by both national parties. We will be working for issues they face severally,” Jha said.
The BJP has been ruling the MCD since 2007. The last polls were held in 2012.The April 23 polls will decide the fate of 272 councillors. While NDMC and SMDC have 104 seats each, EDMC has 64 seats.