‘CM should be careful about her newborn babies’
12 May 2012 6:09 AM GMT
Senior BJP leader and former Delhi BJP president Dr Harshvardan flays the ruling Congress party for ‘political vendetta’ against the newly-elected corporations in Delhi. He advices Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to treat her ‘new-born babies’ very carefully and provide all kinds of support for their development.
In an exclusive interview with Siddheshwar Shukla, he expresses deep concern on the ‘pathetic and step-motherly treatment’ of the corporations by the government. Edited excerpts:
The grant vs loan issue has become a matter of debate between Congress and BJP. What is your take on it?
The concept of three corporations in the city is of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Thus these three corporations are actually her babies and need her extra care and support. She must provide financial and all other kinds of support, if she wants to see them grow and become independent one day.
What is the root of this problem?
Sheila Dikshit treated erstwhile MCD as a civic body ruled by BJP and is doing the same for these three corporations. She should treat them like corporations under her government, serving the people of Delhi.
How much grant do you expect from the government for the corporations?
It is for the government to decide, in consultation with corporations as per their need. They are also working to maintain and improve the living standard of citizens in Delhi. So they must not be demoralised. The government can provide loans to them, but not at this point of time. They just need care.
But the government justifies the loan to corporations and terms it as bailout package?
Firstly, Delhi government has supported many new organisations in the National Capital in the past, such as power companies and even private companies engaged in CWG construction works. So they better understand the difference between bail-out package and loan, and so do the people of Delhi. Secondly, corporations do not make any profit. Overtaxing is also not a solution in the present scenario. Thirdly, these three corporations have just been born. Two of them—South and East—don’t even have proper offices as yet.
Of these three, which one needs the maximum care?
East Delhi Municipal Corporation is the weakest among the three. The area is most underdeveloped and have the least resources. Actually, the trans-Yamuna area that comes under East Delhi has been neglected for long. It’s unfortunate that despite electing Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep Dikshit, Delhi Congress president J P Aggrawal, Dr A K Walia, Arvinder Singh Lovely, and other bigwigs of the Congress party, East Delhi is being neglected and facing step-motherly treatment.
What will BJP do if the Congress maintains its stand?
We are registering our protest in a very peaceful way. If the matter is not sorted out, we will not hesitate to come on roads to fight for people’s right.
Do you feel any political vendetta behind these decisions?
Yes, it’s obvious. Congress and Dikshit both are frustated with their defeat in the municipal corporation elections and so are working in such a manner. They must accept their defeat and work for people with corporations.
How do you see your win in the corporation elections?
People have voted against rampant corruption, misrule and inefficiency of the Sheila Dikshit-led government. She has lost the moral right to rule in the city. People trusted her but she ditched them with her false promises and scams. She has been deceiving the people of Delhi for quite a long time.
Did Congress lose just because of Dikshit’s wrongdoings?
No, no. The people have an option to select between Congress and BJP. They selected BJP for its good governance, corruption-free administration, people-friendly policies, initiatives and work.
Which campaign strategy worked for BJP this time?
We just kept on fighting for the rights of citizens. We highlighted the misrule of the government and made people aware of the corruption and scams of the government. The people have to face the corrupt and inefficient government in their daily life. The country is fed up with the scams emerging everyday.
Will BJP be able to carry this confidence of people in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections?
Of course, we will do. People of Delhi have well understood the false promises of Sheila Dikshit. She actually ditched people in the last Assembly Elections in the name of Commonwealth Games. But this time, the voters have taught her the lesson. She used all tricks to win East Delhi and also tried to misguide voters through media campaigns. The bigwigs of Congress, such as Sandeep Dikshit, Sriprakash Jaiswal, ministers and several loyalists of Dikshit hail from East Delhi but they could not fool the voters this time. This is a big win for BJP and we will keep up this trend.
What will be your priorities for the new corporations?
We will provide a corruption-free administration. We will also demand the Delhi government to return the rights of municipal corporations taken over by the MCD. In a nutshell, we will try to live up to the expectations of the public with our good governance and public-friendly policies.
In an exclusive interview with Siddheshwar Shukla, he expresses deep concern on the ‘pathetic and step-motherly treatment’ of the corporations by the government. Edited excerpts:
The grant vs loan issue has become a matter of debate between Congress and BJP. What is your take on it?
The concept of three corporations in the city is of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Thus these three corporations are actually her babies and need her extra care and support. She must provide financial and all other kinds of support, if she wants to see them grow and become independent one day.
What is the root of this problem?
Sheila Dikshit treated erstwhile MCD as a civic body ruled by BJP and is doing the same for these three corporations. She should treat them like corporations under her government, serving the people of Delhi.
How much grant do you expect from the government for the corporations?
It is for the government to decide, in consultation with corporations as per their need. They are also working to maintain and improve the living standard of citizens in Delhi. So they must not be demoralised. The government can provide loans to them, but not at this point of time. They just need care.
But the government justifies the loan to corporations and terms it as bailout package?
Firstly, Delhi government has supported many new organisations in the National Capital in the past, such as power companies and even private companies engaged in CWG construction works. So they better understand the difference between bail-out package and loan, and so do the people of Delhi. Secondly, corporations do not make any profit. Overtaxing is also not a solution in the present scenario. Thirdly, these three corporations have just been born. Two of them—South and East—don’t even have proper offices as yet.
Of these three, which one needs the maximum care?
East Delhi Municipal Corporation is the weakest among the three. The area is most underdeveloped and have the least resources. Actually, the trans-Yamuna area that comes under East Delhi has been neglected for long. It’s unfortunate that despite electing Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep Dikshit, Delhi Congress president J P Aggrawal, Dr A K Walia, Arvinder Singh Lovely, and other bigwigs of the Congress party, East Delhi is being neglected and facing step-motherly treatment.
What will BJP do if the Congress maintains its stand?
We are registering our protest in a very peaceful way. If the matter is not sorted out, we will not hesitate to come on roads to fight for people’s right.
Do you feel any political vendetta behind these decisions?
Yes, it’s obvious. Congress and Dikshit both are frustated with their defeat in the municipal corporation elections and so are working in such a manner. They must accept their defeat and work for people with corporations.
How do you see your win in the corporation elections?
People have voted against rampant corruption, misrule and inefficiency of the Sheila Dikshit-led government. She has lost the moral right to rule in the city. People trusted her but she ditched them with her false promises and scams. She has been deceiving the people of Delhi for quite a long time.
Did Congress lose just because of Dikshit’s wrongdoings?
No, no. The people have an option to select between Congress and BJP. They selected BJP for its good governance, corruption-free administration, people-friendly policies, initiatives and work.
Which campaign strategy worked for BJP this time?
We just kept on fighting for the rights of citizens. We highlighted the misrule of the government and made people aware of the corruption and scams of the government. The people have to face the corrupt and inefficient government in their daily life. The country is fed up with the scams emerging everyday.
Will BJP be able to carry this confidence of people in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections?
Of course, we will do. People of Delhi have well understood the false promises of Sheila Dikshit. She actually ditched people in the last Assembly Elections in the name of Commonwealth Games. But this time, the voters have taught her the lesson. She used all tricks to win East Delhi and also tried to misguide voters through media campaigns. The bigwigs of Congress, such as Sandeep Dikshit, Sriprakash Jaiswal, ministers and several loyalists of Dikshit hail from East Delhi but they could not fool the voters this time. This is a big win for BJP and we will keep up this trend.
What will be your priorities for the new corporations?
We will provide a corruption-free administration. We will also demand the Delhi government to return the rights of municipal corporations taken over by the MCD. In a nutshell, we will try to live up to the expectations of the public with our good governance and public-friendly policies.
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