It’s time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s paathshala for budding politicians, who seem to have got “low grades” at the step of political governance – civic bodies.
The BJP greenhorns in three municipal corporations will be getting lessons on civic politics and administrative skills from Modi soon. Top sources in the BJP said the PM will interact with all BJP councillors around mid-October, a move seen as an attempt to set the house in order in the Capital.
It has been learnt that the interaction was planned following discussions between Modi and Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari during the two-day national executive meeting of BJP this week. A senior BJP leader told Mail Today that “corruption-free” governance, and the Digital India and Swachh Bharat initiatives of the Modi government would remain the key focus of the interaction.
With the BJP gearing up for the 2019 general elections, effective implementation of these initiatives in Delhi will be crucial for the party. This assumes significance in the wake of corruption charges against BJP councilors and party’s criticism for failing to deal with the sanitation mess in the city. The BJP had promised a garbage-free Delhi in 100 days after it came to power in the MCDs in April this year.
But the sanitation woes are only getting worse. And with the festive season on, civic bodies are having a tough time cleaning the city. MCD leaders said the garbage collection and disposal mechanism in Delhi was in tatters and this might cost the BJP dearly in the next elections.
It’s worth noting that the BJP’s major poll promises included sanitation, decongestion, and the cleaning of the Yamuna river.
While the Centre has initiated a number of road projects to decongest the Capital, there has been little progress on the other two fronts.
DATE YET TO BE FINALISED
A BJP leader said the PM’s interaction has been planned for a date before Diwali, but that date is yet to be finalised. He said the meeting was necessary, as the state leadership was unhappy with the performance of the councillors, all of whom are first-timers and lack political and administrative acumen. Corruption charges against these councillors have added to Tiwari’s woes.
The BJP has 180 councillors in the three MCDs – 70 in SDMC, 63 in NDMC and 47 in EDMC. The party has run the MCDs since 2007.
“A big responsibility lies with the councillors for the successful implementation of Swacch Bharat Mission and Digital India initiatives. Cleanliness is the primary job of civic bodies, and being the interface on the grass-toot level, councillors have a major role to play. Modi will educate them on carrying out their task with sincerity,” a BJP leader said.
The BJP has also made all public services in the MCDs online with its programme “Digital by default”. As part of this program, the BJP-ruled MCDs will make services such as birth/death certificates, paying all kinds of taxes and sanctioning of building plans digital. This, officials said, will reduce public interface and thus put a check on corruption. The programme is in keeping with Modi government’s Digital India initiative.
The meeting also aims at cautioning the councillors against indulging in corruption. At the same time, building a positive and development-oriented image of the corporations will bolster the BJP’s prospects in the coming elections.
It may be recalled that the BJP had denied tickets to all sitting councillors in 2017 civic polls to counter allegations of corruption and to defeat anti-incumbency. Instead, the BJP fielded all new faces in the elections but fresh allegations have given the party cause for concern.
