Postponement of Delhi civic polls assault on democracy: Kejriwal

The Delhi Chief Minister seeks the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not allow the civic polls in the Capital to be postponed.

Terming the postponement, on the basis of the BJP-led Centre’s intent to unify the existing three civic bodies — the North, South and East — into a single entity “a threat to democracy”, Mr. Kejriwal also questioned the timing of the move.

“The civic polls in Delhi were about to be announced and an hour before that, the Centre wrote to the State Election Commissioner about its intent to unify the three civic bodies,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

“My question is why did the BJP Government not unify these over the last 8 years? Why did it express its intent just minutes before the elections were to be announced? I think that is because the BJP was sure that it’s prospects will be washed away in the wave of support for the AAP in Delhi,” he also said.

The move, he added, would amount to an assault on the independence of the State Election Commission and set a bad precedent not only in regards to the autonomy of institutions but also on the democratic fabric of the country.

For instance, he said, the practice could be used to affect polls in two states which were sought to be merged or for a transition to a Presidential system, if that was deemed the way forward by the Centre.

“I don’t know what was offered to the incumbent SEC for his support; whether threats related to raids by IT, ED and CBI were issued or whether post-retirement benefits were offered,” Mr. Kejriwal said.