The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has revealed to the people of Delhi the real reason behind the BJP’s unconstitutional occupation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD). Senior leader and MLA Dilip Pandey stated that during the BJP’s 15-year control, its leaders and councilors enriched themselves while driving the MCD into bankruptcy.
Dilip Pandey said, “If BJP leader’s assets were thoroughly investigated, they would all end up in jail.” Since AAP took charge, corruption has stopped, employees are getting paid on time, and work has improved. This progress has unsettled the BJP, and on Friday, they hijacked the MCD through the back door.
During a press conference at the party headquarters on Saturday, senior AAP leader and MLA Dilip Pandey explained that the BJP’s deceit was exposed during the election for a member of the MCD Standing Committee. “This is an even bigger scam than the one the BJP orchestrated in the Chandigarh Mayoral elections. Legal experts, longtime corporation officials, and even some BJP leaders and councilors agree that this level of fraud has never been seen since the MCD’s formation,” he added.
The AAP MLA continued, “The BJP ruled the MCD for 15 years, during which the corporation became uncontrollable, and the cleanliness of Delhi suffered. Meanwhile, BJP leaders and councilors increased their wealth, making the MCD the most corrupt unit in Delhi.”
“The BJP turned the MCD into one of the most corrupt institutions in the world. If the assets of BJP leaders and councilors associated with the MCD are audited for those 15 years, almost all of them would end up behind bars for disproportionate assets. While employees didn’t receive their salaries, the income of BJP leaders increased every year,” he shared.
The AAP MLA mentioned, “The BJP bankrupted the Municipal Corporation, enriched itself, and left the people of Delhi to suffer. By withholding the salaries of Municipal Corporation employees, they essentially hit them where it hurt the most. In terms of governance, the Municipal Corporation became a blemish on the face of beautiful Delhi.”
Dilip Pandey added, “After tolerating the BJP for 15 years, people were fed up, and when they got the option of the AAP, they gave it their mandate. People elected AAP councilors by a large margin, and for the first time, an AAP Mayor was chosen for the corporation. For the first time, the people of Delhi defeated the BJP, saying, ‘Enough is enough, we will no longer tolerate your corruption, and your inability to clean the streets and roads is a sign of your incompetence, and we will not tolerate it anymore’,” he added.
“The corporation, which was like a cash cow for the BJP, slipped out of their hands, leaving the BJP completely bewildered. As a result, the BJP adopted the same attitude towards the Municipal Corporation as it did towards the Delhi government,” said the senior AAP leader.
Dilip Pandey said, “After the AAP came to power, the employees of the Municipal Corporation started receiving their salaries. Harmony was established with the Delhi government. The Delhi government provided ₹800 crores, but the BJP blocked that too. Afterward, they began trying to break the AAP councilors. However, the gap was too wide, so breaking two or four councilors didn’t make much difference.
“They (BJP) manipulated the zone elections by installing their preferred officials. When the equation started to slip out of their control, they brought in 10 Aldermen. The BJP looted the treasury for 15 years, and despite losing, they have been trying to regain control for the last one or two years,” he asserted.
Dilip Pandey added that when a person starts achieving their goals through wrong means, in their overzealousness, they end up taking major wrong steps. The BJP did the same. He said, “The BJP, tearing apart the constitution made by Baba Saheb and the DMC Act of 1957, and disregarding democratic and constitutional values, forcibly conducted a one-sided election for the standing committee members. The BJP, which looted the MCD for years and has been attempting to take control of it again for the past one and a half to two years, is now making this last attempt to capture the corporation and reinstate the same old regime of loot and corruption.”
Dilip Pandey said that these people (BJP) claim that, according to Section 487 of Part 1 and Sub-Part-A of the DMC Act of 1957, the Central Government gives LG Sahab the authority to act as he pleases. “What kind of joke is this? No one should be misled by them. The way the Constitution has been torn apart in the name of Section 487 will cost the BJP dearly. The people of the country are watching how the BJP tried to manipulate the election results in Chandigarh. It was only when the Supreme Court reprimanded them that they understood. With this act, the BJP will once again face disgrace,” affirmed the AAP MLA.
Dilip Pandey further stated, “No part of the DMC Act says that the House, presided over by the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, or any elected member, can be presided over by the LG or Commissioner with the assistance of a clerk. Even Section 487 only stipulates that if the MCD is not performing its duties, the Mayor must first be asked for an explanation. Only in extremely unusual and adverse circumstances, where the DMC Act is not being followed, or when the situation threatens the basic structure of the Municipal Corporation, can intervention take place. But nothing of the sort happened here.
“The Mayor had already scheduled the next meeting for October 5, so why the rush? During BJP rule, when employees did not receive salaries for 8-9 months, there was no intervention. When it was their responsibility to pay the corporation employees, no one remembered Section 487,” he mentioned.
Dilip Pandey said, “The real issue is that the MCD was an open treasury for the BJP, which they were looting. The AAP stopped this looting. Work began to take place in Delhi, garbage mountains started reducing, and employees began receiving their salaries on time. Corruption was halted. But the BJP was not willing to accept this.”
“They (BJP) started a conspiracy to hijack democracy through the back door and destroyed democracy at 1 p.m. on Friday. This day will be remembered for when the BJP killed democracy and the Constitution in the Delhi Municipal Corporation. As a nominated member of the Delhi Assembly, this is also a violation of my rights. The people of this country and Delhi, the judiciary, and all those who believe in the Constitution will never forgive the BJP for this,” concluded Dilip Pandey.
