Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devender Yadav criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for failing to provide proper representation to Dalits in the Zonal Ward Committees elections of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
In Short
- AAP promised better opportunities for Dalits before taking power, Delhi Congress chief said
- Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi accused of delaying Ward Committee elections
- Devender Yadav calls Oberoi’s actions illegal and unconstitutional for MCD
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devender Yadav criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for failing to provide proper representation to Dalits in the Zonal Ward Committees elections of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). This election is the first since the unification of the trifurcated MCD in 2022. Yadav pointed out that AAP had previously promised better opportunities for Dalits, including the regularisation of ad hoc sanitation workers and hiring more staff for vacant posts.
Yadav accused Mayor Shelly Oberoi of trying to delay the zonal ward committee elections. He claimed Oberoi overstayed her term by five months, blocking a Dalit candidate from becoming Mayor. According to Yadav, Oberoi also attempted to stall the Ward Committee elections by not appointing presiding officers and approaching the court to delay the process, which was ultimately rejected.
Yadav emphasised that in the third year of the current MCD term, a Dalit candidate should have been appointed Mayor in April after Oberoi’s term ended on March 31. However, Oberoi continues in her position, blocking the Ward Committee elections, which Yadav called “illegal and unconstitutional.”
He also highlighted the negative impact of the absence of Standing and Ward Committees on MCD operations, leaving Councillors unable to address community needs.
Yadav accused AAP of misgovernance, stating that conflicts between AAP, the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, and the Commissioner have crippled the civic body. He pointed to recent monsoon flooding in Delhi, where poor drainage maintenance led to over 37 deaths due to drowning and electrocution, as evidence of AAP’s failures.