'How will Modiji improve the situation in MCD?'

Attacking the Election Commission, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said that people have started doubting the credibility of the EVMs in a "big way".

Two days ahead of Delhi's civic polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to cover up its "corruption and failure" in the local bodies by seeking votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cast doubt on the ELection Commission's insistence on the use of electronic voting machines.

He said the BJP's strategy would not work as people know that the three municipal corporations will not be run by Modi, but local leaders of the BJP who have failed in their job in the past 10 years.

Noting that people have started doubting the credibility of EVMs in a "big way", Kejriwal also blamed the Election Commission for not conducting a "fair probe" into the controversy surrounding it.

The Delhi chief minister said if someone casts his vote in favour of the BJP, the person should know that his vote is going for a Delhi with "filth, dengue and chikungunya" for the next five years.

Citing poor sanitation in the national capital which is leading to a rise in vector-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, he said there is "no hope" from the BJP and that the only hope for the people of Delhi is his Aam Aadmi Party.

"The only hope for the BJP is Narendra Modi and by using his name, the party wants to cover up its corruption and the poor sanitation condition.

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"How will Modi-ji improve the situation in MCD? Work in the MCD will not be undertaken by Modi, but local BJP leaders -- Vijendra Gupta, Vijay Goel and others. People know that Kejriwal, and not Modi, will run the MCD," Kejriwal told PTI in an interview.

He said that if the BJP really wanted to do the something, its leaders in the MCD could have done the same in the last 10 years.

Attacking the BJP for "destroying" all three municipal corporations, Kejriwal said the party has ruled the bodies for 10 years, but it has not done even a single good work in the national capital.

"Civic bodies have failed to clean the city. People are fed up with filth due to which there have been rise in cases of dengue, chikungunya, malaria which have painted a bad image of Delhi in the country as well as the entire world," he said.

Kejriwal said if someone casts his vote in favour of the BJP, he should know that his vote is going for a Delhi with filth, dengue and chikungunya.

"A person voting for the BJP should be held responsible when any member of his family is diagnosed with dengue as he has voted for 'the party of dengue and garbage'," the AAP chief said.

He said that if the AAP is voted to power in the MCD, it will get Delhi rid of "mafias" operating in the supply of electricity and water.

"The AAP government has eradicated tanker, electricity, parking, counterfeit mafias. The AAP is the only party which also can eliminate several mafias -- parking mafia, road mafia -- in the MCDs," the Delhi chief minister said. 

The elections to all the 272 wards of the three civic bodies where the BJP, the Congress and the AAP are locked in a triangular battle will be held on Sunday.

Before 2012, there was one unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi. During the Sheila Dikshit regime, it was trifurcated into three bodies -- North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations. The BJP has been ruling the civic bodies since 2007.

Seeking votes on his government's work, Kejriwal said people know what the AAP dispensation has done for them in the last two years.

The Delhi government looks after four main issues -- electricity, water, health and education where we took "revolutionary steps" that have been discussed across the world, he said.

He said the concept of 'Mohalla Clinic' is being replicated across the country.

"We have ensured medicines and pathological tests free of cost in government hospitals. People are coming to Delhi to study our education model. Electricity is cheaper in Delhi in comparison to other states. We are providing free water and potable water to every household," he said.

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Asked about his doubt over EVMs, Kejriwal said people have started doubting the credibility of the machines in a "big way".

"It is the duty of the Election Commission to investigate these doubts. The EC is not conducting a fair probe on EVMs due to which our doubts has become strong," he said.

Asked whether the EC is under pressure, Kejriwal said that it seems so.

Asked about the significance of the MCD polls, the AAP leader said these elections are very significant for the people of Delhi, adding that "if we clean Delhi, a good image of the city will emerge in the entire world as people across the globe come to Delhi".

"If a person from another country comes out of our airport, he or she gets to see dumps of garbage everywhere in Delhi which projects a bad image of the country in the eyes of foreigners.

"If there is spurt in cases of dengue, chikungunya in Delhi, other countries issue advisory asking their citizens not to go to India which paints a bad image of the country. The BJP has painted a bad image of Delhi by poor sanitation, rise in dengue cases," he said.

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Photographs: PTI Photo