AAP welcomes SC order on Maharashtra local body elections, slams BJP for ‘organised loot’ in BMC

Preeti Sharma Menon. Pic/X

The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Mumbai unit on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's directive to the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct Maharashtra local body elections within four months, calling it a much-needed restoration of constitutional democracy in the state.

In a statement, AAP lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of presiding over what it called an "organised loot" in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and 27 other civic bodies across Maharashtra. The party alleged that the state's largest municipal body, the BMC, has seen a substantial depletion of its fixed deposits due to unchecked administrative spending.

"For over three years in the case of BMC and between three to eight years in 27 other corporations, citizens have been denied their right to elect representatives. This is a blatant subversion of democracy," said Preeti Sharma Menon, AAP's Mumbai President. "It is a crying shame that local urban bodies have been reduced to bureaucratic fiefdoms, with administrators acting as proxies for the Chief Minister."

Menon claimed that the absence of elected representatives has allowed lower-level bureaucracy to operate without accountability. "There is rampant rent-seeking, civic grievances are being ignored, and citizens have nowhere to turn," she said.

Welcoming the Supreme Court order as a "step towards restoring public representation at the grassroots level," AAP asserted that it is ready to contest the upcoming elections. "The people of Maharashtra deserve better. AAP is not just an alternative but the solution to the mess that governance in this state has become," the statement said.

Menon emphasised AAP's commitment to clean politics and a new political culture. "We are fully prepared to go to the people of Maharashtra and seek their mandate in favour of transparency, accountability, and service-driven governance."

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra state election commission to notify Maharashtra local body elections in the state within four weeks.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said the contentious issue of OBC reservation in local body polls of Maharashtra will be as it existed prior to the 2022 Banthia Commission report.

The top court accepted the commission report which recommended census to fix exact data on OBCs and reserve 27 per cent of seats for the category in local body polls in Maharashtra.

The bench on Tuesday fixed a timeline for concluding the local body polls and asked the state panel to conclude it in four months and granted liberty to the state election commission (SEC) to seek more time in appropriate cases.

The bench said the outcome of Maharashtra local body elections would be subject to decisions in pending petitions before the apex court.

(With inputs from Agencies)