On November 29, The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced that the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Delhi would get the status of ‘mini councillors’. Codenamed ‘Janta Chalaegi MCD’, the poll promise was announced by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference. He said, “Under this scheme, people need not go to a councillor to file their complaints. If you have complaints regarding sewer, garbage, cleanliness etc, you can go to the RWAs ‘mini-parshad’. He will be your ‘neta’ and will solve the problem.”
अब जनता चलाएगी MCD. RWAs को बनाया जाएगा मिनी पार्षद। https://t.co/O1NbVroGoT
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 29, 2022
In his statement, Kejriwal claimed he does not care to whom the members of RWAs belong and urged them to door-to-door campaign for Aam Aadmi Party. He also urged them to ask people to vote for AAP on social media and WhatsApp groups. Kejriwal claimed, “Keep in mind that if a councillor of another party wins in your ward, he will not let you work. He will create hurdles in the powers we want to grant to RWAs.”
Kejriwal said RWAs would get funds to solve the problems people bring to them. He further added that his government would make an online system to track the grievances received by RWAs. Blaming BJP for not doing any work in the last 15 years in MCD, he said, “I asked a union minister who is campaigning for BJP in MCD polls. He told me that they get a 2-page brief before campaigning, and it is filled with abuses directed at me. When he asked why there was no list of projects done by MCD, they told him he only needed to abuse me.”
When asked about the controversial videos of AAP leader Satyendar Jain leaked from Tihar Jail, he said, “They release a film every day just like Bollywood releases a film every Friday. Their films get released on news channels but only run until 12 PM as there is no ‘masala’ in them. Their films lack drama and songs. Ask them to add ‘Rinkiya ke papa’ and other such songs in their films so that people can at least enjoy them. Otherwise, they are very boring.” BJP has released a series of videos showing AAP leader Satyendar Jain getting VIP treatment in Tihar Jail.
‘Old wine in a new bottle’: BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slam Arvind Kejriwal’s promise
Speaking to OpIndia, Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “This is nothing but rebranding and repackaging old wine in a new bottle. Kejriwal promised in 2013 and 2015 about Mohalla Sabhas would be empowered to decide how Janta would run the government or the administration. He had, in fact, even said that before opening the liquor shops, he would ask the local women’s committees about the locations and only after that kind of consultation would decisions be taken. He mentioned this in his book called Swaraj also. But none of those was implemented. Now, yet again, he is repackaging an old promise which he hasn’t fulfilled, which he hasn’t kept. This is classic Kejriwal. Lie and then repeat things assuming that people have forgotten just because time has passed.”
MCD Polls
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections is scheduled for December 4. The results will be announced on December 7. The main competition is between AAP and BJP. Notably, BJP has been in power for the last fifteen years in MCD. The Central Government passed Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill in March 2022 to re-merge the municipal bodies in Delhi. The unified Municipal body came into existence on May 22, 2022.
