Making a major populist announcement in the run-up to the upcoming elections to the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDs), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday pledged that if his party comes to power in MCDs, it will abolish residential house tax levied by the municipal bodies and will also waive all related pending dues.
"As soon as the AAP comes to power in the MCDs with a full majority, we will abolish the collection of house residential tax and waive all pending dues with immediate effect. We are making this promise with full responsibility and after thorough study and planning," Kejriwal told a press conference here.
"After coming to power in Delhi (in 2015), our government kept its promise of halving electricity bills and offering 20,000 liters of water for free for each family within one month," the AAP leader said. The AAP's rival parties had then said that such measures would bankrupt the government but actually the Delhi Jal Board’s revenue increased by Rs 178 crores, the CM added.
Describing the current house tax structure as "draconian", Kejriwal alleged that it has become a source of widespread corruption for municipal councillors and officers in all three MCDs being ruled by the BJP for 10 years.
There are an estimated 9 lakh property tax payers in Delhi and about Rs 600 crore in revenue is earned annually by the three MCDs.
Kejriwal said his party has examined the accounts of MCDs and that money to be saved by plugging corruption in them will be utilised to cover the shortfall in their revenue.
The AAP chief also clarified that industrial and commercial property tax will remain unchanged. In the name of house tax, people of the city are "harassed", he said promising that the AAP would put an end to it.
Kejriwal promised that within a year of coming to power in the MCDs, the AAP administration would turn around the finances of the loss-making Delhi municipal bodies and ensure that their employees get their salaries on or before the seventh of every month.
Pledging to make Delhi a modern, "model city" for "the country and the world" if his party wins the MCD polls, he said the AAP will soon release its manifesto for the MCDs elections to spell out in detail its proposals and pledges.
"Together the councillors of BJP and Congress have looted the MCDs on a massive scale, and will have to face the consequences of their corruption. They must answer to people how within 5-10 years they have moved from scooters to Mercedes and BMWs," Kejriwal charged, claiming that "We will end this loot and make sure the money spent by MCDs reaches the right people and right causes".
The CM also promised that "We will bring in more participation from among the RWAs and the citizens in matters of cleanliness and maintenance of parks, so that these services can be improved".
He alleged that MCDs have become a "den of corruption and misgovernance". "We have seen how BJP and Congress councillors have relaid the same roads over and over on paper and siphoned off all the money. The MCD has spent Rs 7 lakhs on fountains that never worked….Thousands of ghost employees are paid salaries, even as genuine employees are not paid on time. The AAP will put an end to this regime of corruption after coming to power," he claimed.
The 23 April elections to MCDs are set to be a litmus test for the AAP's popularity in Delhi after its dismal performance in recent Punjab and Goa assembly elections.