The unbundling and reunification of MCD seems like an exercise in futility
In Indian polity, it’s a classic example of being back to square one. Or re-inventing the wheel, if you please. To start at the beginning, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was in 2011 trifurcated into the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, North Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation as per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 1911. Now, all eyes were on the State Election Commission for the dates of polling, which was last held in 2017. The exercise was to be completed by May 18, when the term of the three civic bodies would expire, to elect 104 councillors each to the NDMC and SDMC as well as 64 councillors of EDMC. The commission on March 9 called a press conference to announce the schedule but, in a dramatic twist, deferred it saying it has received a communication from the Centre that the latter intends to unify the corporations. According to rules, if the three bodies are merged then the election deadline will no longer apply. It is also not known whether the number of existing wards will remain 272 or will change, requiring a fresh delimitation exercise.
Amid this suspense, fresh from the boost to its electoral prospects in Punjab, the AAP has taken affront to the Centre’s unification move. Perhaps taking it a tad too personally, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister first appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “not cancel” the corporation elections but it didn’t bear any dividends. Now, a day after the Union Cabinet gave its nod to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022 — a Bill that proposes to merge the three corporations, and likely to be tabled in the ongoing Budget session next week — a miffed Kejriwal threw down the gauntlet to the BJP, saying the AAP will quit politics if the saffron party gets these polls conducted on time and still manages to win. His frustration at the delay in the conduct of polls notwithstanding, this entire exercise of reuniting the corporations after an 11-year experiment raises questions. What was the need to unbundle the MCD, at significant cost to the taxpayer, if it were to be remerged? The assets, staff and revenue earning potential of the carved out corporations were not proportionate since the beginning, leading to heartburn and the experiment’s failure.