The Delhi BJP on Saturday moved to regain control at the local level, demanding that the three corporations in the capital be unified again. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had been trifurcated by the Sheila Dikshit government in April 2012. The move had invited BJP ire, with the party alleging that it was an attempt by the Congress to wrest control of the corporations. During a meeting with councillors of all three corporations — North, South and East — Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel formed a committee to the take up the issue of unification. The committee, led by MLA Nand Kishore Garg, will take the proposal to the Lt-Governor and the Union Home Ministry. “The discussions over the unification of corporations took place as many of us wanted a unified corporation. Many claimed that BJP members also backed the trifurcation as it created more posts. Three corporations mean three mayors, three leaders of the House and more committee chairpersons. But in today’s discussions, we reached a consensus to demand a unified corporation,” a councillor said. The demand for unification is seen as an attempt by the BJP to gain foothold at the local level in the face of Aam Aadmi Party’s Swaraj Bill, which also targets the politics and administration at the local level. However, the reversal of the trifurcation comes with consequences. “Too much of effort and money has gone into the trifuraction. It took more than a year to streamline the system. Unification can’t be done in the near future and the process will hurt public services,” one of the councillors said. Meanwhile, the BJP also decided to launch dharnas against the AAP and the “unconstitutional” ways adopted by the Delhi government. “We too will go on dharnas and expose AAP. This will be done to tap the voters at the grassroot level. A schedule will be chalked out soon,” a senior leader said.
