The NDA partner Lok Janshkati Party (LJP) will independently contest MCD elections in the national capital fielding candidates on "maximum" seats in absence of any seat-sharing agreement with BJP.
The party today said it wanted to have an alliance with BJP for the municipal elections but it could not materialise, said Chirag Paswan, chairman of Parliamentary Board of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
The party issued its first list of 30 candidates in the elections, including 15 women candidates, after a meeting of Delhi unit of LJP and was also attended by its national president Ram Vilas Paswan.
"We can understand the compulsion of BJP regarding an alliance but we think our state organisation is strong enough to contest elections so we have decided to fight MCD polls on maximum number of seats and announce names of candidates in phases," Paswan said.
The Parliamentary Board of the party has decided in favour of contesting MCD elections as the state unit had requested for fighting the elections in view of a strong organisation in Delhi, he said in a press conference.
LJP will contest the municipal corporation elections, scheduled in April, on development agenda focusing on road, water and electricity.
Paswan said women and youth will be given priority in fielding candidates for MCD elections, adding "winnability" would be the prime factor in selection of candidates.
He also hit out at the three municipal corporations of Delhi, all ruled by the BJP, alleging "corruption" in them.
"I feel corruption exists in MCDs otherwise the problems of people would be solved and there were proper development in the wards which is not there," Paswan said.
Paswan ducked a question on performance of BJP ruling the three municipal corporations in Delhi for a decade, saying he was not saying that the party did nothing but he believed the scope of work by these bodies was immense and it should be done with sincerity no matter which party won the elections.
Delhi LJP president Sanjay Siwal said the second list of candidates for MCD elections will be issued soon.
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