MCD polls: AAP to raise garbage issue

New Delhi: AAP leader Gopal Rai on Monday said his party will raise the issue of garbage mismanagement in the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, asserting that the BJP has to answer why the trash mountains across the capital haven't been cleared yet.

The BJP has been in power in the MCD -- trifurcated in 2012 and then unified this year -- for three straight terms. The high-stakes civic polls on December 4 is largely being seen as a three-way contest between the BJP, the AAP and the Congress. Rai said the AAP will hold public meetings from November 8-20 and raise the issue of garbage.

"In the MCD polls, the AAP will be focusing on the issue of garbage in Delhi. We will hold multiple public meetings at every booth and raise the issue. "We have prepared 600 spokespersons who are being trained to raise the issue. None of them are contesting the elections," Rai said as he launched the 'Kude ka jansamvad' campaign here.

The spokespersons will hold discussions on the issue with the public and take their feedbacks, he said.

"The BJP is an aimless party and they purposely fixed this impromptu election with an aim to win the polls. The BJP has to answer why garbage mountains and landfill sites across Delhi haven't been cleared yet," he said.

AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said public meetings will be held in every booth in Delhi and a few questions will be asked to the public about the issue of garbage. "We will ask people if there is garbage mismanagement in their society and if they spot garbage at other places as well. We will also talk about the three garbage mountains that the BJP has created in Delhi," Pathak said.

He further said the BJP has "failed" to keep Delhi clean, despite getting three chances at the MCD. "In MCD, the BJP got three chances which means they couldn't resolve the garbage issue in 15 years," he said.