Lok Sabha Passes Bill To Merge Delhi Municipal Corporations Amid AAP-Centre Row

The bill, which comes ahead of the MCD polls, seeks to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 20 March, passed The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 20 March, passed The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The bill seeks to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi.

This comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that the Delhi government was giving 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 MCD polls.

The Row Over the 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) will quit politics if the BJP allows the polls to be conducted on time and still wins 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."