Assembly elections may not be happening anytime soon, but polls are on the minds of local politicians in West Delhi as the BJP and the Congress are using park benches to score points over each other.
The Congress in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation claimed on Thursday that benches funded by their former MP were left half-done, while those funded by a BJP councillor had been erected.
At a meeting of the SDMC’s Standing Committee on Thursday, Leader of the Opposition Farhad Suri said benches funded by ex-West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra were in the process of being put up when a BJP MLA objected to the same.
Mr. Mishra had given Rs.14.76 lakh from his MP Local Area Development fund for park benches last year. On October 5, 2013, the corporation issued work orders to the contractor to start the work on the stone tile, granite and glass tile benches in the West Zone.
When the work was about 60 per cent done, SDMC Mayor Khushi Ram, Janakpuri MLA Jagdish Mukhi and Janakpuri South councillor Rajni Mamtani visited the area on June 19 this year. According to an official note, the MLA said the cement benches were not allowed in parks and that they be removed.
However, Engineering Department officials told the committee that similar benches were put up in the adjoining ward by BJP councillor Ashish Sood.
Mr. Suri said: “How can we have double standards? Benches put up by the BJP councillors are allowed, but the ones by a Congress MP are not.”
The former Congress councillor from Janakpuri West, Sanjay Puri, said he has been approached by RWAs in the area to ask about the completion of the benches. However, Mr. Sood, who defeated Mr. Puri in 2012, said this was just a “political gimmick” by the Congress.
Meanwhile, Standing Committee chairperson Satish Upadhyay ordered officials to restart the work on the 75 benches. “There is no need for dual parameters for political parties,” he said.
