Arvind Kejriwal on civic polls: ‘Forcing EC to cancel election unprecedented'
The dates for Delhi civic polls had to be announced earlier this week.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday hit out the BJP-led central government for asking the Election Commision to delay the civic body polls in the national capital, calling it an "unprecedented" and "unconstitutional" move. “Perhaps, this is the first time in the last 75 years of independent India's history that the centre wrote to the Election Commission for delaying the polls,” the 53-year-old leader said in a video address, adding that "putting pressure on the poll body weakens its role".
“The date for the MCD polls was to be announced at 5 pm on March 9 but the same day an hour ago, the central government wrote to the state election commission that all three civic bodies would be combined as one, and that the civic polls should be delayed. At 5 pm, the poll body agreed to do that," Kejriwal said. The BJP - which is ruling at the centre for nearly eight years - could have taken the MCD move earlier too, he added.
"An hour before the poll dates had to be announced, they sensed an urgency... this is just an excuse. There is no connection between the MCD move and the holding of elections. It is not healthy for a county's democracy for the Election Commission to agree to such a request. With folded hands, I appeal to PM Modi, governments come and go... if the Election Commission is pressured to do something, it weakens their role... I appeal to you, please don't cancel the polls. This is a huge threat for the democracy," the chief minister urged.
Interestingly, just minutes before the video address, Kejriwal had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for assuring centre's support to the AAP in Punjab where the party was elected Thursday with a huge marjority.
Minutes later, in a video address, the chief minister said: “If just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, requests are made for bringing the presidential system, can national elections be postponed? Can state elections be postponed like this? This is a huge question. I don't know what threat was given to the state election commission. Also to the state election commissioner, I would say, the nation would stand with you but don't bow down.”
A state election commission letter indicates that a bill to unify the MCD, which was trifurcated 10 years ago, was likely to be tabled in the ongoing session of Parliament which will resume on March 14. "The MCD elections have to be completed before May 18, so we still have time,” state election commissioner (SEC) SK Srivastava said on Wednesday announcing the delay in the civic poll dates.
