SEC defers announcement of civic poll dates

Poll panel cites communication from Centre on proposed ‘unification of the three municipal corporations’; AAP questions move

NEW DELHI

In a dramatic turn of events, the Delhi State Election Commission on Wednesday deferred the announcement of the dates to the civic body polls in the Capital.

State Election Commissioner (SEC) S.K. Srivastava announced the decision citing “a letter from the Centre proposing the unification of the three municipal corporations”.

Mr. Srivastava, who was scheduled to address a press conference regarding the poll dates at 5 p.m., said he had received the letter at “4:30 p.m.”. The poll panel, however, clarified that the civic polls “have neither been deferred, nor cancelled”.

Reacting to the development, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “BJP has run away. MCD polls have been postponed, [BJP] conceded defeat... But the Election Commission should not have come under the pressure of BJP.”

BJP sources told The Hindu that the letter in question was dispatched to the SEC by the Centre at 4 p.m., two days after “verbal discussions” on the unification of the three civic bodies between Mr. Srivastava and Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal. According to Delhi BJP sources, the process of unification is expected to span “from six months to a year”. “A senior bureaucrat chosen by the Centre” will head the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi after the tenure of the current civic bodies — trifurcated in 2012 by the then Congress government at the Centre — expires in mid-May this year.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior SEC official said the Central government’s letter “conveyed its intention to introduce a Bill in the ongoing Parliament session for the unification of the three municipal corporations”. “We are currently examining this and taking legal opinion; we are not abdicating from our responsibility. If we fail to announce election dates by April 18, then you can say that we are facing pressure,” he said.