Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday, 30 March, 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 the corporations were equipped with "sufficient resources to discharge their responsibilities."
Shah was speaking on the 'Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2022', which aims to create a unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by merging the three existing municipal corporations. The bill was later passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday evening.
"The Delhi Government has given step-motherly treatment to the three MCDs. Due to this, all the municipal corporations do not find themselves equipped with sufficient resources to discharge their responsibilities."
He said it would be appropriate if a single corporation took care of the civic services of the whole of Delhi from the point of view of resources and cooperative and strategic planning.
"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."
'Bill is As Per the Constitution, Not Scared of Polls': Amit Shah
Later on Wednesday evening, Amit Shah said that this Bill was as per the Constitution.
"I would like to tell you that this Bill is as per the Constitution and it is absolutely a Constitutional Bill. Since Delhi is a Union Territory Government of India has the right to bring any legislation relating to it," he said.
"Talks being held about rights of states. CM Kejriwal speaks the same. I can't bring such a Bill for Maharashtra, Gujarat, or Bengal. Neither I nor Centre can do it in states. But if you don't know difference between state & UT, I think Constitution needs to be studied again," he added.
Shah said that every party should go everywhere with their ideology, stand, program and performance.
"That's the beauty of democracy. What's objectionable here? If a party thinks its candidates should be elected to power on the basis of their ideology & popularity, what is objectionable here?" he said.
Shah said only those who feared the loss of power are objecting to the bill.
"Advocates of democracy can never object to it. We want to contest and win elections on the basis of our program, ideology, popularity of our leaders and our performance."
Taking a dig at the opposition, Shah said, "We don't want to capture power by killing workers of rival parties, not BJP's culture."
Shah also said the BJP wasn't scared of polls.
"I'll tell you what's done when polls are feared. Allahabad HC had cancelled the election of Indira Gandhi. Soon after, a PM, that didn't have right to vote in this House, snatched away democratic rights in the country & imposed Emergency. That's fear."
"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," he added.
Earlier, talking about the bill, he further said, "Running the services of the municipal corporation with more efficiency and transparency, these amendments are also in this bill. There is also a proposal in this bill to limit the number of councillors of Delhi. Civil services should be organised on the basis of the principle of anywhere and anytime."
Shah said the MCD was responsible for the civic services of 95 percent of the entire capital region.
"About 1.20 lakh employees work in the three corporations. Many important places like Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, Prime Minister's House, Central Secretariat are here," he said.
"When the heads of state of other countries come here, they definitely keep their eyes on the capital. Therefore, it is necessary that all the three corporations of Delhi should take up the responsibility of civic services," he added.
BJP Running Away From Polls: Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Reacting to Amit Shah's speech, Delhi Deputy Minister Manish Sisodia said that the BJP was just 'running away' from the polls and have thus brought the bill.
"BJP must remember that before 2011-12, the municipality was a single entity under BJP's rule. There used to be corruption & pollution then as well. You'll see with 3 municipalities also, BJP won't be able to make a change, it can only do corruption," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
"Union Home Minister Amit Shah knows this well. Currently, they're just running away from the polls & have thus brought the bill. Delhi public has seen BJP properly," he added.
Background
The bill was introduced in the lower house by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Friday after it was approved by the Union Cabinet on 22 March.
Rai had said that the bill would make the MCD “a single, integrated and well-equipped entity”.
However, the Delhi government along with several opposition parties have been protesting against the bill, calling it "unconstitutional".
In 2011, the Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated into three municipal corporations – South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).
The central government had deferred announcing the dates for Delhi's three civic body polls, which were earlier scheduled for 9 March.
While the State Election Commission (SEC) had been preparing to conduct the municipal elections by way of multiple notices indicating that the same would be conducted in April 2022, on 9 March - the day it was to announce the dates for Delhi's three civic body polls - it cited an unofficial communication from Lt Governor Anil Baijal as the reason behind the deferment.
Reportedly, Baijal had conveyed to the SEC that the Centre was intending to pass legislation to merge the three municipal corporations of Delhi.
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