Delhi BJP on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and councilors of "harassing" traders by "forcing" MCD officers to issue notices on sanitation, encroachment, and conversion charges. Reacting to the allegations leveled against it, the AAP said it is known to all that MCD is directly being ruled by the Central government through Lieutenant Governor. It said soon MCD will have a mayor and the AAP government will be in charge after which this "harassment" by BJP will come to an end.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party won the civic body polls by winning 134 of the total 250 MCD wards in December. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that after getting a majority in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, the AAP is "harassing" traders."Aam Aadmi Party has won most of the wards having major markets like Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazar, Kashmiri Gate, and Lajpat Nagar among others and now its leaders and councilors are forcing officers at MCD zonal offices to issue notices to traders about cleanliness, maintenance of shops, size of shop board, conversion charge, encroachment or renovation," Kapoor said.
He claimed that thousands of such notices have been issued in the last one-and-a-half months. Kapoor said it started from Sadar Bazar where nearly 30 shops were sealed after the reopening of a case that was lying pending for years. It happened after AAP won the civic body poll. A campaign was launched Monday to remove encroachment in Shastri Nagar. It was stopped after local BJP councilor and working president Virendra Sachdeva intervened, he said, adding that their party will challenge AAP’s moves to "harass" traders.
The AAP said in a statement, "Every person in Delhi and the media persons are fully aware that as of today, MCD is ruled directly by the Central Govt through LG, Special Officer and Commissioner". "The MCD and its officers are controlled by BJP's Centre and its LG. Every big inauguration of MCD is being done by LG."The Central government desperately tried to continue its control of MCD. Now, after the rap by Supreme Court, MCD will soon have a mayor and government of AAP. All this harassment by BJP will come to an end. All these corrupt practices of the BJP will come to end," it added.
Delhi will get its new mayor on Wednesday as the stage is set for the mayoral poll following a Supreme Court order after three failed attempts by the municipal body to hold the election to the top post in the past.
