AAP says MCDs hiked 11 taxes
New Delhi: As Aam Aadmi Party leader and MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak on Thursday took sharp aim at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and criticised its administration in all three of Delhi's MCDs, which have together hiked around 11 different taxes.
"In the last three days, all three MCDs have presented their budgets and hiked different taxes. This will devastate citizens already broken due to the effect of the pandemic. From property tax to commercial house tax, residential house tax, charges for a trade license, factory license, health license are among the 11 different taxes hiked," he said.
He also called the BJP corrupt, saying that "in their 2017 manifesto, they had promised that there will be no tax hikes".
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation said that they had only increased professional tax, transfer duty and a 1 per cent education cess while the maximum number of tax hikes had been done by the East MCD, including that on electricity. Most civic body officials have maintained that these hikes were crucial to bringing in much-needed revenue.
On the other hand, SDMC Leader of the House Narendra Chawla insisted, "Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak and Arvind Kejriwal are liars. How can one reply to lies? We have not increased any taxes."
Chawla, who has been protesting for the release of Rs 13,000 crore in funds purportedly owed to them by the Delhi government, along with the three mayors of the Capital outside the CM's residence for four days now, further said, "CM Kejriwal is not under house arrest, he is merely taking rest. How can one believe he is under house arrest when he was seen attending a wedding and the farmers' protest at the Singhu border? He is a liar, an anarchist and an urban naxalite." Chawla was earlier Mayor of South Delhi.
North MCD Mayor Jai Prakash said, "Several workers' unions of the Municipal Corporations have lent their support to our protest. As far as tax hikes are concerned, there is no mention of it in the budgets of all three MCDs which have been presented recently".
Pathak said that the MCDs have hiked: professional tax, property transfer tax, factory licenses, the rate of trade license and health license, commercial house tax, residential house tax, education tax, tax for vacant land and charge for cleaning garbage. Pathak added that the Aam Aadmi Party "completely opposes all these tax hikes. We believe that the BJP has realised that their term in MCD is getting over within a year. This is why they have planned to completely loot the MCD and ruin the system".
