The political parties are attaching inordinate importance to MCD elections but are they serious?
The democracy Carnival is on as the elections are underway in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Delhi. While the assembly elections are taking place in the state of Gujarat and Himachal, Delhi is going to elect its Municipality, MCD. Interestingly enough, the Delhi Municipality election is getting equal if not more attention than the state elections. Maybe, because it is prestigious because it will decide the fate of the civic body in the capital or it is about enormous funds involved. MCD has an annual budget of over Rs 15,000 crores and is one of the richest civic bodies in the country. For either of two reasons, the political parties are falling upon each other to win it. The BJP’s main challenger AAP is also giving it equal importance as Gujarat or Himachal and reaching out to voters. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress want to wrest it from the BJP which has ruled it for 15 years.
The BJP has deployed several of its chief ministers and ministers to campaign in Delhi. It may be a little uncertain who is the main challenger of the BJP in Gujarat, but in Delhi surely it is AAP as Congress is relegated to the third spot though it could be a silent yet a potent force in some areas. There is one thing that is common in all three elections. More than the issues it is about the party leader. The voters are supposed to make their choices based on the name of the leader rather than on their work. While Prime Minister Modi is the reason to vote for the BJP, it is Kejriwal for the AAP and Rahul Gandhi for Congress, albeit in lesser measure. For the namesake, the parties have their manifestos and promises but nobody seems to be serious about them. Garbage is what they are concerned about. Arvind Kejriwal has promised that the AAP will clear three landfill sites in the city. The BJP has promised to process all the solid waste in the capital. In its election manifesto, Congress has said it will work towards turning the MCD moniker into Meri Chamakti Delhi based on six principal themes namely, pollution, corruption ,Dhalao (garbage receptacle), Garbage, Epidemic and Debt. No voter is amused with these promises which may take forever to accomplish even if the parties promising them were serious. Everyone knows nothing is going to change. Even after elections the capital will make do with the potholed roads, overflowing sewers, dark lanes, and un-potable drinking water. Not to mention the theatrics of political leaders.