Yogendra Yadava: "Chaddis winning Delhi municipal polls is a democratic scandal"

Coffeehouse for desis :: Coffeehouse :: Coffeehouse Main

Page 1 of 1

Yogendra Yadava: "Chaddis winning Delhi municipal polls is a democratic scandal"

by Guest Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:54 am

Delhi’s three municipal corporations are likely among the worst run municipalities in the country. A visit to the outer and eastern peripheries of Delhi – which now house nearly half of the city – reveals an urban infrastructure no better than that in the towns of UP and Bihar. Even a casual visitor to the city cannot help but notice the garbage dumps, dirty water and stench all over the city. In the last one year, Delhi has been through a chikungunya and dengue epidemic and its air pollution has crossed all danger marks.

There is no doubt about who the culprit is: the municipal corporations in Delhi run by the BJP for the last ten years. In popular lexicon, these are known as the ‘most corrupt departments.’ The only time you notice the MCD is when its inspector arrives to demand a bribe to turn a blind eye to any building activity. These municipalities are a textbook example of how urban governments ought not to be. True, they have been starved of resources by the Delhi government, but they have done little to generate massive revenues that they could through parking, advertisements and toll tax. If the BJP looks set to come back to power in the MCDs, it is nothing short of a democratic scandal....

Clearly, those who voted for the BJP did not think they were rewarding the non-performing MCDs. The BJP managed to detach this election from the difficult municipal issues. Instead, it distracted the voters and the media into discussing nationalism, Kashmir, cow slaughter and national security – issues that have no bearing on the MCDs. It also managed to deflect popular anger against its sitting councillors by deciding not to re-nominate any of them. The Aam Aadmi Party also contributed to this decoupling of the elections from the real municipal issues by making it a personality contest. The AAP campaign was all about turning this election into a personal referendum for Kejriwal. Some of the hoardings did not even carry the name of his own party. Smaller players like Swaraj India, constrained by lack of resources and media attention, tried to bring the debate to municipal issues, but with very limited success.

https://thewire.in/128570/mcd-verdict/

Guest: Guest