UP civic polls AAP’s next big target: ‘Will halve house tax, waive water tax’

AAP’s state in-charge Sanjay Singh says the focus is on the post of chairperson and mayor. Party to appoint leaders in charge in 633 of 763 municipalities.

Claiming that the people were highly influenced by the principles of AAP national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, the MP said this was the reason the people of the national capital elected him thrice for his work in education, health, transport and power sectors. (PTI)

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Launching its campaign for the urban local body elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday announced it would reduce house tax by half and waive water tax in municipalities it will win.

At a press conference in Lucknow, Rajya Sabha MP and the party’s state in-charge Sanjay Singh said, “We will waive water tax and bring down house tax by half in places where we get the chairperson’s post. We will also ensure that the cities are cleaned and the best amenities are provided to people there.”

Claiming that the people were highly influenced by the principles of AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the MP said this was the reason the people of the national capital elected him thrice for his work in education, health, transport and power sectors.

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Of the 763 municipalities in Uttar Pradesh, the AAP will appoint leaders in charge in 633 urban bodies, according to the MP. “We will strongly contest the elections for the post of chairperson and mayor. People of the country gave an opportunity to Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. We are confident that this time the people of the state will give a chance to the AAP,” said Singh.

Though the AAP failed to make an impact in the Assembly elections last year, contesting the urban local body polls is part of the party’s strategy to keep a toehold in UP even as it looks to make a push in other Hindi heartland states such as Rajasthan, where Arvind Kejriwal will address a rally on Monday, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The AAP’s plans to contest the UP local polls were firmed up after its victory in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls in December in which it trounced the BJP. In the 2017 UP civic polls, two AAP candidates became nagar panchayat chairpersons, three became municipal corporators, while 17 were elected to nagar palikas and 19 to nagar panchayats. The AAP has formed a state-level committee to screen the applications of poll-ticket aspirants for the posts of mayors and chairpersons of nagar panchayats and palika parishads.

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Ahead of the urban local body polls, a five-member commission constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday submitted a 350-page report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the elections. The report is likely to be submitted to the Supreme Court that had stayed an Allahabad High Court order asking the state government to go ahead with the municipal polls without the OBC quota.

Meanwhile, hitting out at the BJP government at the Centre over alleged misuse of probe agencies to target the Opposition, Sanjay Singh alleged, “The PM is constantly getting baseless cases lodged against Opposition leaders in the country. The CBI has lodged 30 cases against the TMC (leaders) in Bengal, 26 cases against the Congress, 10 cases against Opposition leaders in Bihar, five cases against the BSP, four against the Samajwadi Party, three against the NCP and three against the National Conference in Kashmir. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the government is targeting every opposition party and their leaders. Will they get cases lodged against their corporate friends involved in scams worth lakhs of crores? Will they also get them probed by the investigative agencies?”