Why now? asks AAP, says unification Bill a tactic to delay polls

New Delhi: Even as the Union Cabinet cleared a Bill to reunify the Capital's three municipal corporation, the Aam Aadmi Party here doubled down on its attack against the BJP — which is in power at the Centre and at all three MCDs — saying that the reunification exercise was merely a "tactic to delay the civic polls", the announcement of which has now been indefinitely delayed.

And even as the Bharatiya Janata Party hailed the move as a fix-all solution for the North, South and East MCDs' financial woes, AAP bigwigs like Atishi on Tuesday questioned as to why the Union government was now suddenly interested in the reunification after having had the chance to do so since it came to power

in 2014.

But even as the AAP insisted that the people of Delhi would vote for them regardless of whether the MCDs are unified or remain trifurcated - it claimed the BJP was running away from facing the people's mandate. But the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has, for now, reserved its remarks on the Bill to reunify — saying it would speak on it only after it is placed in the public domain.

The BJP should "give up" its efforts to keep the municipal elections on hold as it would not change its fate, AAP's Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai said, adding, "The longer the BJP delays the election, the more losses it will suffer."

Rai said the merger of the three municipal corporations in Delhi would not make "any difference", alleging that the financial crunch in the civic bodies was a result of BJP's alleged corruption and that simply reunifying them would not help.

"There has been so much corruption (in civic bodies) during their regime. People of Delhi are waiting for a big change.... The BJP should not run away from the elections, using the tactics of unification... No matter polls are held today or tomorrow, the AAP will win," senior party leader Durgesh Pathak said.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta hailed the move to reunify the MCDs along with a host of other BJP leaders, all of whom maintained that the initial trifurcation in 2012 had caused all of the MCDs' problems and that reunifying them was righting an old wrong.

Moreover, Gupta alleged that the AAP was against the unification because the amendments would purportedly strengthen the unified municipal corporation.

Further, Delhi Congress has said that the unification move is not likely to help the MCDs get more funds and agreed with the AAP that it was simply a move to delay the polls - which are scheduled to be held by May this year.

HC seeks EVM answers

And as the political rhetoric heightened on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court continued to hear a plea by AAP seeking VVPAT enabled EVMs be used for the civic polls. The High Court asked the Election Commission whether VVPAT can only be used with the M3 EVMs and sought to know if these machines can be used in the polls here.

The court asked the counsel for EC to seek instructions on the issue and also asked its officers concerned to be present before on March 24 for assisting it.

The court's order came after the counsel for State EC submitted that VVPAT is used only in General elections and Legislative Assembly polls and as a matter of policy, the EC is using M-2 EVMs Pan India for municipal polls.