India News | On Dec 7, We Will See Who Will Be Swept Off: BJP's Ex-mayor on MCD Polls
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Senior BJP leader and former mayor of North Delhi Avtar Singh claimed on Sunday that his party was "ahead" of its rivals in the MCD polls, and accused the AAP of making "false claims to hide its failures".
New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Senior BJP leader and former mayor of North Delhi Avtar Singh claimed on Sunday that his party was "ahead" of its rivals in the MCD polls, and accused the AAP of making "false claims to hide its failures".
The AAP has been attacking the BJP during the campaign phase, alleging that the saffron party, which has been in power in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the last 15 years, has "turned the city into a filthy mess" due to its "failure" in governance.
"We are asking for votes only on basis of our work. BJP running at number one right now, and we are ahead of our rivals. And, we are going to form our government after winning the polls. We were there and we will maintain our rule in the MCD," Singh claimed.
He was interacting with PTI after casting his vote at a polling station set up in the premises of the State Election Commission here.
The senior BJP leader was elected as North Delhi mayor in 2019.
A Dalit Sikh, Singh, arrived at the polling stations riding an old scooter and flashed his inked finger after casting his vote late afternoon.
"There is a lot of excitement among people, who are treating this (poll) like a festival," he said, and appealed to others to also come out and vote.
Asked about the accusations of the AAP that BJP has "done nothing in these 15 years of its role in the MCD", the former North Delhi mayor said, "People have seen the wrongdoings of the state (AAP-led) government, and their corrupt leaders are in jail, and only to hide that wrong, they are making false claims," he alleged.
The BJP has been targeting the AAP over the purported videos linked with its jailed minister Satyendar Jain, and accusations of irregularities in excise policy of the Delhi government.
The AAP has been claiming during the campaigning that "the broom of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party" will "clean the saffron party" from the civic body in Delhi.
Singh retorted this claim, quipping with an adage 'Hath kangan ko aarsi kya, padhe likhe ko Farsi kya', and said, "On December 7, we will see, who will sweep away whom".
Counting of votes polled on Sunday will be held on December 7.
Voting for the high-stakes civic polls spanning 250 wards in Delhi began at 8 AM and over 45 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 4 pm, according to data shared by the State Election Commission.
The previous civic body polls in 2017 had recorded 53 per cent voter turnout.
Asked about the landfill issue and accusations that BJP-ruled MCD has failed in addressing it, Singh said, "Work is going on. Only to hide their failures, they are making it an issue. They do nothing, but just sit idle and talk. Soon, landfill site issues will also be addressed, once we return to power in MCD".
The AAP has used the landfill site issue as a major poll plank and often sought to corner the BJP over it, describing the landfill sites BJP's "mountain of failure".
Both the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that they will emerge victorious in the polls while the Congress is seeking to regain lost turf.
This is the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise, and the poll is being held days after the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, and a day ahead of its second phase.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)