New Delhi: Apart from the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, the municipal elections in Delhi are also slated for the next year, and the political parties are leaving no stone unturned to get maximum seats in these elections.
Congress MP and the party’s Delhi in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil shared some insights of how his party is preparing to reinstate itself in Delhi and the corporations.
He said, “The love for the Congress party has always been there among the people of Delhi; The Sheila Dikshit-led government remained in power for 15 years and people have not been able to forget the developmental works that were done by her. Under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, people are feeling cheated.
“Congress is getting back its vote bank in Delhi and we are also working hard; we are taking out ‘Poll-Khol’ yatra in Delhi and considering the support of the people, it seems that the Congress will stand firmly.”
In the Delhi Municipal Corporation by-elections held earlier, in five wards, the AAP won four seats, while the Congress had captured one seat.
According to Gohil, the vote percentage of the Congress has increased in the by-elections, and thus the party will get the benefit in the civic elections.
Slamming the AAP for the promises being made by the Chief Minister in other states, Gohil said, “State Congress is exposing the truth of the promises being made by the Chief Minister in other states. The promises they (AAP) made in other states, they have not been able to deliver to the people in Delhi till now.”
He further said, “Delhi is a state where there is a surplus budget and during Sheila Dixit’s time — big flyovers were built, which ended the problem of traffic, but today we are again facing the same problem due to the lack of development.”
Municipal elections are slated to be held in April 2022 and the model code of conduct is likely to be imposed in March.
According to Gohil, based on the public interaction, there are a lot of issues, which the Congress will take up.
Recalling the Covid pandemic era, he said, “People had to face trouble without ICU beds in Delhi; the BJP and the AAP could not help the distressed people at the time of corona, we ran the ‘Congress ki Rasoi’ and our workers came forward to help the people.”
Congress and its leaders are constantly claiming that the party will get benefit in the civic and other elections, however many leaders have left the Delhi unit, due to which it is being believed that the party will have a big disadvantage in corporation elections.
Although Gohil believes that there is always some reason behind leaving the party, possibly, greed or anger. “But those who left the Congress party in Delhi or other states have regretted it and later they also came back,” he said.
He said, “Good and bad times come for every party, but the voters and supporters do not go with those who compromise on their ideology. Those who are leaving the party will not cause long term loss to the party, but they themselves will repent.”
On a query regarding the benefits that the employees and people would have, if the Congress is voted to power, Gohil said, “During the Congress government, no matter whoever is in power in the corporation, the salaries of the employees were never stopped, but now the employees have to go on strike for salaries.”
“At present, the BJP and AAP are accusing each other, but what is the fault of common people in this? People are upset with the fight between the two parties. We will fix this in our government,” he asserted.
When asked about who will be the challenger for the Congress in the corporation elections, Gohil said, “It is the public which decides, our job is to serve the people, our leaders are preparing a positive manifesto for the people of Delhi in which there will be no tall claims and when we will come to power, we will fulfill our promises.
The Delhi Congress would be depending on young faces in more than 130 wards in the upcoming municipal elections. At the same time, party leaders and workers are planning to highlight the developments done during the Sheila Dikshit government.
(IANS)