No compromise on corruption: Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta

NEW DELHI: Despite nominating new faces for the municipal elections in 2017 to ward off anti-incumbency over allegations of corruption, Delhi BJP has yet again been forced to expel councillors barely six months before the next civic polls are due in 2022.
Pooja Madan from Mukherjee Nagar (north corporation), Rajni Bablu Pandey from New Ashok Nagar (east corporation) and Sanjay Thakur from Saidulajab (south corporation) were expelled for six years on allegations of corruption.Former Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had accepted that corruption did exist and they didn’t want it to continue.
Asked if more councillors would be expelled as part of a purge and new faces introduced, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said the party would not compromise with corruption and was committed to take strong action. “But that doesn’t mean we have a certain policy/plan to introduce new faces in the coming election. Those who have done good work and their performance and commitment towards the public is on a par with acceptable standards will surely be considered for the next term,” he added.
Over the past few years, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been blaming BJP councillors for corruption and mismanagement, which has allegedly led to the poor financial situation of the three municipalities. AAP has adopted an anti-corruption campaign as a major poll plank. AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj and party in-charge of the corporations Durgesh Pathak accused ousted BJP councillors Thakur and Pandey for corruption in April and August, respectively.
Asked if the recent action validated AAP’s anti-corruption stance, Gupta said, “AAP itself has lost its main plank. They welcomed an expelled councillor into their party barely a few hours later, which shows their double standards. We are at least reacting to the charges and taking action, but what about our complaints about corruption in DJB and other departments? Why has no action been taken?”
Meanwhile, Madan said she was not served any notice regarding misappropriation or mismanagement of funds.
“I had differences with the district president and this was communicated to the party leadership several times, but no action was taken. Also, I was facing a really tough time in doing any development work in my area due to the corporation’s cash crunch. This forced me to join AAP. BJP came to know about it three days before my expulsion, that’s why they expelled me hours before I joined AAP. Had I been corrupt, no other party would have accepted me,” added Madan.
The two other councillors said they had no plans of joining another political party. Thakur said the letter came as a shocker. “I have been associated with the party for a long time and worked dedicatedly for 4.5 years. The party should have heard our point of view before issuing such a harsh letter,” he added.
Pandey said, “I was not shown any proof of corruption. I’m not going anywhere and am waiting to prove my innocence.”