'Delhi Govt's Step-Motherly Treatment a Hindrance': Amit Shah on MCD Bill in RS

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 30 March, had passed The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, 5 April.

(Photo: Screengrab from Sansad TV)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah once again accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government of meting out step-motherly treatment to the three civic bodies in the national capital, on Tuesday, 5 April.

Later on Tuesday evening, the Rajya Sabha passed The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 30 March.

The bill seeks to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi.

"Delhi government's step-motherly behaviour hinders the efficient working of all the three MCDs. If the State/UT governments behave in a step-motherly fashion with civic bodies, neither Panchayati Raj nor urban local bodies will be successful," he said.

'No Fear of Losing or Arrogance of Victory': Amit Shah

"Questions have been raised on the government's constitutional capacity to bring the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Those who call us power-hungry should look at themselves in the mirror," Amit Shah added.

"We have no fear of losing or any arrogance of victory," he further said. Shah also said that the Delhi municipal bill was in no way an attack on the federal structure.

Shah also attacked the Congress party and said:

"Congress, the party which imposed the Emergency, snatched all democratic rights, sent Opposition behind bars for no reason, strangled freedom of the press, and censored Kishore Kumar's songs, is crying for democracy today?"

Amit Shah on Wednesday had said in the Lok Sabha that the Delhi government was meting out step-motherly treatment to three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) and that not all of these corporations were equipped with "sufficient resources to discharge their responsibilities."

"The bill I have brought, its aim is that the three municipal corporations should be made one again and the Delhi Municipal Corporation should be made one," he stated.

This comes amid a row between the AAP government in Delhi and the BJP at the Centre over the postponement of the MCD polls.

The Row Over MCD Polls Delay

The state election commission (SEC) of Delhi on 9 March – the day it was to announce the dates for Delhi’s three civic body polls – said that the MCD polls were being deferred, citing a communication from Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

Reportedly, Baijal had conveyed to the SEC that the Centre was intending to pass legislation to merge the three municipal corporations of Delhi.

Reacting to the deferment, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on 23 March had said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would quit politics if the BJP allows the polls to be conducted on time and still won them.

"We will leave politics if BJP gets the MCD polls held now and wins it," Kejriwal had said, issuing a challenge to the Centre.

"BJP is postponing MCD elections so that all three municipal corporations of Delhi can be unified. Can elections be postponed because of this? Tomorrow they will be losing Gujarat, so can they avoid that saying that they are uniting Gujarat and Maharashtra? Can Lok Sabha elections be postponed by making such an excuse?" he had questioned.

Retaliating to the AAP, Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, "Those who are saying that elections (MCD polls) have been postponed due to fear of polls, themselves are scared. If you are so confident of the victory then why do you want elections right now? If you have done good work, you will win 6 months later too."