NEW DELHI: The disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs seems to have turned into a pleasant surprise for residents in most of their constituencies as road works and other pending civic issues are being taken up at a fast pace owing to the possible bypolls.
“We had been requesting authorities to repair roads for a long time but nothing was done. As soon as the possibility of elections sprang up, authorities have started repairing the roads,” Mohammad Siraj, a resident of Jangpura, said. Jangpura MLA Praveen Kumar was among those disqualified.
The Election Commission had last month had recommended to the President that the 20 MLAs be disqualified for holding offices of profit by virtue of being parliamentary secretaries. The legislators had moved the Delhi High Court against the disqualification and the matter is currently pending there.
Similar is the case with Chandni Chowk. Traders and residents say their complaints about leaking drains and open manholes fell on deaf ears earlier, but now work was started at full pace. “I was forced to sit in my shop which had a drain leaking beside it. The stench was horrible and I had repeatedly requested the authorities to mend the drain but to no avail. I was contemplating using my own money to fix it. But after the MLAs were disqualified, work has started and now the drain is perfectly fine,” Ravinder Sharma, manager at Natraj Café, said. Chandni Chowk was represented by Alka Lamba.
Similar opinions were voiced by residents of Tilak Nagar, Laxmi Nagar and Kalkaji. The complaints in these areas include road repair works.
Authorities, however, have a different take on the issue. Chandni Chowk councillor Surekha Gupta said the work was in the pipeline for a long time. “It is mere coincidence that the work started after the MLAs were disqualified. We are here to serve the people and there is no politics in involved in this.”
Similar views were echoed by Janakpuri north councilor Shyam Sharma. “We had approved these works as soon as we received complaints. The timing is merely coincidental,” he said. Janakpuri legislator Rajesh Rishi is also among those disqualified.
AAP leaders accused BJP councillors of trying to gain political mileage out of the issue. “They do things only to please the electorate before polls. First, they resorted to cheap tactics to get our MLAs disqualified and now they are using dubious means to win the bypolls, if they are held,” an AAP leader.