North-MCD withdrew tax hike proposal due to protests, claims AAP

new delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday said the North Delhi Municipal Corporation had "bowed down" to its strong protests and withdrawn the proposal to hike four key municipal taxes at the Standing Committee meeting where the proposal was expected to be passed.

"This massive protest (by AAP) forced the BJP-led North MCD to withdraw the proposal of hiking four taxes," a statement from the party said. Party leader Durgesh Pathak had on Tuesday said the AAP would stage a "massive protest" in front of the Civic Centre against the proposal to hike taxes. He said that the BJP-ruled civic body was planning to bring tax hikes similar to those introduced recently by the South MCD, which is also ruled by the BJP.

However, North MCD officials said the discussion on the proposal to hike the taxes had been postponed till the next meeting.

"The politics of honesty won against the corruption of the BJP in Delhi again," the party said. The Delhi government and the north Delhi civic body have been at loggerheads over funding to the municipality and the matter has now also reached the Delhi High Court. Recently, a bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel had asked the Centre, Delhi government and civic bodies to get together and solve the fiscal problems faced by the MCDs.

However, as the South MCD did, the north civic body had also planned to increase professional tax, house tax, property transfer tax and electricity tax in a bid to increase revenues.

Pathak had earlier said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was "betraying" the electorate by introducing these tax hike proposals despite having promised not to do so before the 2017 municipal elections.