BJP faced with anti-incumbency in MCD Elections in Delhi
15 YEARS OF MISRULE OF BJP
THE RSS-BJP even after delaying the Municipal elections for more than six months to circumvent the huge anti-incumbency is not succeeding in its pursuit. The crisis to civic amenities has reached its peak due to the corrupt and imbecilic functioning of the BJP led municipal corporations for the last 15 years.
The Fifth Delhi Finance Commission indicted the BJP led North MCD for irregular diversion of plan funds and it had to expel 3 of its councillors over corruption charges. The present solid waste disposal sites of Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla far exceeded their capacity and the tallest of the three Ghazipur landfill, is just eight metres short of Qutub Minar. The health and education services under the MCDs also are suffering from fund crunch as North MCD couldn’t pay salaries to the health workers during the pandemic. One-third population of Delhi lives in substandard housing. In order to divide the popular anger against its misgovernance, the MCD’s had started implementing orders of the state BJP president in illegally bulldozing the rehri’s in Jahangirpuri.
The actions of the AAP led state government which poses themselves as an alternative to the BJP were also anti-people. Its act of reducing the number of ration card holders from 34.35 lakhs to just 17.50 lakhs, aggressively promoting contractualisation against the promise of permanent jobs and leaving the enforcement of minimum wages to benevolent big business people who ensured 90 per cent of the workforce not getting it, and this has made matter worse for the people of Delhi.
LEFT POSITION
The CPI(M) is contesting from 6 seats on the agenda of the work it did in these localities during the pandemic and communal violence. People see the Party as the only alternative to the communal RSS-BJP as both the AAP and Congress were mute spectators while NE Delhi was engulfed with communal violence. It was Brinda Karat, Member, Polit Bureau, CPI(M) who was seen stopping the bulldozer politics of the RSS-BJP led North MCD in Jahangirpuri. The Party manifesto does talk about houses for the houseless, welfare pensions for unorganised sector workers, improved health, education and sanitation services and universal ration-PDS coverage. Besides the CPI(M) the other Left parties are contesting from another 11 seats to MCD. A joint programme for campaigns highlighting the various issues is being planned for the coming days.
