In an apparent bid to preempt the anti-incumbency factor for the upcoming Delhi municipal polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided not to field any of the sitting councillors, or their relatives, in the electoral contest.

For the last two terms, the BJP has been at the helm of the national Capital's municipalities, often under cloud for rampant corruption and tardy pace of work. The decision is seen as "spring-cleaning" of the civic bodies, with approval from the highest rung of the party.

"Zero-tolerance towards corruption, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's style of functioning, has to be our mantra in all party matters, including distribution of tickets," state BJP president Manoj Tiwari told Mail Today in an exclusive interaction on Tuesday.

About the simmering discontentment among senior councillors against such a decision, Tiwari said: "We are not bothered about the feelings of sitting councillors. We are answerable only to the public, not to the councillors."

The North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations together constitute 272 seats, of which the BJP's current strength is 153. The elections to the civic bodies are scheduled to be held on April 22. The counting will take place on April 25.

LEADERS SPOTTED SOBBING

Some of the party's senior councillors include prominent names like Radhey Shyam Sharma, Subhash Arya, Shyam Sharma and Lata Gupta. The Tuesday's decision is seen as a dead-end for several of these senior councillors.

The consequences of the decision could gauged out by the fact that a few councillors, such as Mayur Vihar Phase I's Sandhya Sharma, could be seen sobbing at the party office premises soon after the decision was made public at a press conference.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has repeatedly attacked the MCD for having failed to implement Modi's flagship cleanliness drive on the ground. He has repeatedly called the MCD "a den of corruption" which doesn't even "issue a death certificate without a bribe."

'COMPLETE OVERHAUL NEEDED'

A senior BJP functionary, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the main purpose of the current move was to counter the negative publicity launched by AAP leaders against BJP-dominated municipal bodies. He said the "top leadership felt a complete overhaul of the MCD brass" was felt necessary.

"In the post-2014 (Lok Sabha election) scenario, the councillors' performance was not found satisfactory at all. Not only did they fail to connect with the public but also could not satisfactorily counter AAP's allegations of corruption against them. Top leaders took a strong view of this," the senior functionary said. "Anyway, only 35-40 of our sitting councilors in MCD were two- or three-time winners. Around 120 have been first timers."

The leader said the decision will usher in a new line of leadership for Delhi BJP which will hold the party in good stead in the 2020 State Assembly election.

Tiwari said that the decision was in line with Prime Minister Modi's vision of a new India driven by the power of youth. Flanked by Delhi MPs Harsh Vardhan, Mahesh Girri, Parvesh Verma and Udit Raj, and to project the party's unity over the move, Tiwari said, "We have unanimously decided to field fresh faces in the municipal elections. Even family members of the incumbent councillors will not be awarded tickets."

BJP pradesh in-charge Shyam Jaju too expressed confidence that the decision will be a gamechanger for the party and it will win the MCD elections.

"The verdicts at Punjab and Goa have shown AAP and Arvind Kejriwal the mirror. It will face a similar situation in Delhi too," Jaju said.

Jaju said the BJP has always contested elections on its "organisational strength" and hence "we have formed teams of five booth managers each for all the 13,372 booths in the national Capital"

He also said that the party will organise a workshop to brief booth managers on their responsibilities on March 19 at the Ramlila Maidan.

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