Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Friday questioned the role of the Election Commission in postponing the Delhi MCD elections. Describing the Election Commission as weak, he said, “On 9th Delhi Election Commission sent a press invitation that the dates of MCD elections will be announced today at 5 pm. But on the same day, an hour ago, the government wrote a letter to the Election Commission that we are going to make all the three municipal corporations of Delhi into one municipal corporation. And therefore the municipal elections should not be announced.
Kejriwal said that the Election Commission has also agreed to the announcement of the Center. He said that people are saying that uniting MCD is an excuse, the purpose is to postpone the elections. BJP felt that if elections are held in Delhi now, then there is a wave of Aam Aadmi Party and BJP will lose the election. As such, the election dates were not announced.
Kejriwal said that it is for the first time in 75 years that the central government has written a letter to the Election Commission of a state asking for postponement of elections. He said that in the BJP Delhi Municipal Corporation in eight years, if all the three municipal corporations had to do the same then why not till now. Why did he remember an hour before the election dates were announced?
Surrounding the Election Commission, he questioned that I do not know whether there was any threat to the commissioner of the State Election Commission or whether he has been given any offer of post retirement. They have to stand with the country. It is a matter of democracy.
On the other hand, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi hit back on Kejriwal’s allegations and said that such allegations against the Election Commission are not justified. I want to ask Kejriwal ji whether a city can survive without Municipal Corporation? As they have now started the process of removing municipalities.
Let us inform that a press conference was to be held on Wednesday on behalf of the State Election Commission regarding the municipal elections. In this press conference, the date of MCD election was to be announced in Delhi, but this press conference was postponed at the last moment and the dates were not announced.