Reunification of Delhi’s municipal corporations: The background, the impact and the politics

A view of Shyam Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre in New Delhi (Image : PTI)

The Union Cabinet approved a bill on March 22 proposing to merge the three municipal corporations of Delhi into one. The decision, once implemented, will alter power equations between the Aam Aadmi Party, which rules the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power in the three civic bodies.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is likely to be tabled in Parliament in the ongoing session scheduled to end on April 8.

A unified municipal corporation will be eligible to get funds from the Centre instead of depending on the Delhi government, according to reports. Funding, or the lack of it, has been a bone of contention between AAP and BJP.

READ | Union Cabinet nod to bill to merge 3 Delhi municipal corporations

The decision triggered a war of words between the two parties. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP claimed the BJP was scared of losing the Delhi municipal elections, which were due in mid-April and had been deferred on March 9.

Here’s what a unified civic body in Delhi would mean and how it may impact politics in the national capital:

The background

Delhi has five local bodies – the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, the Delhi Cantonment Board and the New Delhi Municipal Council.

Until 2012, the North, East and South civic bodies used to be one – the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The then Congress government of Delhi led by the late Sheila Dikshit decided to trifurcate MCD. The North and South corporations have 104 wards each, while the East corporation has 64 wards.

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The government had proposed trifurcation of MCD for better efficiency in 2011 and the Union ministry of home affairs approved the proposal in November 2011. The Delhi government convened a special assembly session and passed the trifurcation bill in December 2011 and the notification was issued in January 2012.

Until then, MCD was the second-largest civic body in the world, after Tokyo, catering to 97 per cent of the population in the national capital. It had 272 wards distributed among 12 administrative zones, with 22 departments and a single commissioner. After the trifurcation, there were three commissioners, 66 heads of departments, and three mayor officers.

The politics

The move to have three local bodies instead of one was said to serve the people of the city better by decentralising services. However, many saw it as an attempt by the Congress party to wrest power in at least one municipal corporation from the BJP, which had been winning the local body polls.

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Congress could not win any of the civic polls in recent times. Neither could the AAP, which came to power in Delhi in 2013, first with the Congress’ support and later on its own. Over the years, the two parties in power in the Delhi government and the municipal corporations have often indulged in a blame game over the functioning of the civic bodies. The BJP accuses the AAP government of delaying funds meant for the municipal bodies, thereby stalling civic services and using it as a tool to discredit the saffron party.

Unification of 3 MCDs could have been done long back and could have been done anytime. This is simply a ploy to delay the pending elections of MCD.

BJP is scared of losing MCD elections in Delhi.

— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) March 22, 2022

Following the move by the Union Cabinet, BJP leaders said the unification of the municipal bodies will help resolve their financial issues. However, AAP leaders allege the move is aimed at delaying civic polls since the BJP fears defeat.

AAP won the Delhi assembly elections in 2015 and 2020, securing more than 60 of the 70 seats each time. Earlier this month, the party was voted to power in neighbouring Punjab.

The impact

A unified MCD, whenever it happens, will likely alter the political dynamics in the national capital. Administrative efficiency apart, one mayor of a municipal corporation could, perhaps, be in a more powerful position to take on the Delhi chief minister than three mayors.

This, experts said, will allow the BJP to assert its influence in Delhi, more so since the party has not won the Delhi assembly elections for over two decades. The last time the BJP was in power in Delhi was in 1998 when late Sushma Swaraj was the chief minister. The BJP has won the elections to the municipal corporations for 15 years.

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Elections to Delhi’s three municipal corporations are held every five years and the last one was conducted in April 2017.

The proposed legislation seeks to cap the number of seats in the unified MCD at 250, with the Centre empowered to decide the exact number. It is also expected to fix the number of seats to be reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and will be empowered to undertake changes subsequently. The legislation provides for powers to be exercised by the Centre as Delhi is a Union Territory, according to reports.