‘Dissolve civic bodies, hold polls’: AAP slams BJP after rap from HC

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Durgesh Pathak on Monday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no right to rule civic bodies in the city, after the Delhi high court threatened to attach the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s assets over the non-payment of its staff.

“The BJP no longer has any right to remain in MCD. The MCDs should be dissolved and fresh elections should be held,” Pathak said in a statement on Monday.

Also read| 'We are going to start attaching your assets’: HC warns North MCD to pay staff

Pathak also said, “The BJP of Delhi has looted the MCD for 15 years such that today there is no money to pay salaries to the employees, and now the MCD’s plots have to be auctioned to pay salaries to the court.”

The HC on Monday asked the North body to disclose its list of assets and bank balance, to examine the issue of non-payment of salaries and told the corporation it will attach its properties to recover money.

Responding to the development, North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash said he had not received any such order from the court. He said the civic body is making efforts to pay their staff’s salaries on time, and added that doctors, nurses and paramedic staff were released earlier in May.

“We cleared the salaries of doctors, nurses, paramedic staff and sanitation employees till April... it is not that we don’t want to pay, but such an adverse situation has emerged because of revenue losses due to the pandemic.