The Bharatiya Janata Party will go into the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, due early next year, on the issues of corruption and price rise, while at the same time urge the people to vote for the party that will provide them the blueprint for best delivery in the health and education sectors.

Elaborating the party’s plans at an interaction of the media with Mayor Rajni Abbi, Leader of MCD House Subhash Arya and MCD Standing Committee chairperson Yogender Chandolia and Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta said a survey conducted by the party through a private firm revealed that there was great resentment among the people on the twin issues of price rise and corruption.

Mr. Gupta claimed that due to the good performance of the BJP-led MCD, which has been awarded AA-rating by global rating agency Fitch Ratings Limited, the survey had revealed that support for the BJP in MCD was intact.

After boycotting the launch of the Chandni Chowk makeover project, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) hit the streets demanding Sheila Dikshit’s ouster on Friday. Marching from Civic Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, MCD councillors sought a CBI probe to probe the CM’s role in the CWG scandal.

Dressed in black, MCD councillors shouted slogans against Dikshit, demanding that she be put behind bars along with Kalmadi and Kanimozhi.

“Kapil Sibal has said that no one can dislodge Sheila Dikshit but anyone who is booked under corruption should be behind bars. This is a democracy, not a monarchy,” said Vijender Gupta, Delhi state president, BJP.

BJP MP Navjyot Singh Sidhu, said, “The Shunglu committee was appointed by the Prime Minister. So when the report indicted the CM why is no action being taken against her. Kalmadi spent Rs 12,000 and the Delhi government spent Rs 20,000. If Kalmadi is in jail why isn’t Sheila Dikshit?”

Scores of BJP activists led by party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday courted arrest after a protest here demanding resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

The protesters assembled at Jantar Mantar and demonstrated in front of Parliament Street where they raised slogans against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Ms. Dikshit.

Along with Mr. Sidhu, Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta, senior leaders Harsh Vardhan and Vani Tripati and some activists courted arrest after an hour-long protest.

Addressing the protesters, Mr. Sidhu alleged that the Prime Minister was presiding over the most corrupt regime of the country.

The BJP will have no alliance with the BSP, Samjwadi Party (SP) or Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), neither before nor after the 2012 UP assembly election. BJP national president Nitin Gadkari announced this in his inaugural speech at the party’s two-day national executive meet which began on Friday.

The BJP chief’s announcement was greeted with applause. The BJP has twice propped Mayawati as UP chief minister and has paid a heavy price for it. The saffron party which once held sway in the state in the early 90s has been reduced to fighting for third or fourth place behind the SP, BSP and Congress in recent elections.

“The route to (power in) Delhi goes via Lucknow,” said Gadkari. He called upon partymen to seize the opportunity in UP where, he said, the people, disillusioned with the divisive and casteist politics of SP and BSP.

The MCD will hold elections on May 16 for the post of Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Standing Committee, a key decision-making panel of the civic agency. The last date for filing nominations for the posts is May 9 while the names can be withdrawn at any time before the commencement of the election, officials said.

The ruling BJP has decided to renominate Yogender Chandolia for the post of Chairman and Sarita Chaudhary for that of Deputy Chairman, according to party sources. Meanwhile, chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of ward committees of six MCD zones were elected today. The zones are Sadar Paharganj, Central, Rohini, South, City and Shahdara (North).

Three BSP leaders, who had contested the last assembly elections in Delhi, today joined the BJP alongwith their supporters.Ved Prakash Maan, Lal Pradhan and O P Malhotra, who had contested the 2009 assembly polls on BSP tickets, joined the BJP in the presence of state party chief Vijender Gupta.

BJP chief Nitin Gadkari  announced the formation of a election reforms committee of the party, which will focus on issues like EVMs, criminalisation of politics and other concerns.

Party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will be the convenor of the committee. “This committee will look into all issues regarding electoral reforms. These will be conveyed to the government and the Election Commission,” Naqvi told mediapersons.

The committee will prepare reports on important electoral issues and submit them to the government and EC, Naqvi said, adding “the committee will work mainly under the guidance of senior party leader L K Advani”.

Members of the committee include party general secretary Thawar Chand Gehlot, secretary Kirit Somaiya, former BJP Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ramapati Ram Tripathi, Satyapal Jain, Bhanwari Lal Purohit, G V L Narasimha Rao and Ramakrishna.

With an eye on the municipal polls slated for early 2012 and in an attempt to deflect attention from the ongoing probes and issues related to inflation, chief minister Sheila Dikshit has yet again put the “inefficiency” of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on centrestage. For the first time a political committee has been set up to study how the “leviathan” can be split into manageable municipalities. The committee has been asked to report back within 20-30 days.

The CM emphasised on her earlier proposition seeking a trifurcation of MCD. She has now set up a political committee and put on its panel not only three of her cabinet ministers, but also the leader of the opposition, VK Malhotra, and a senior MLA. MCD is currently led by BJP and the CM’s move to constitute a political committee with BJP on board aims at proving that the civic body is indeed an inefficient organisation.

To be headed by finance and urban development minister Ashok Kumar Walia, the committee includes public works department and development minister Rajkumar Chauhan, education and transport minister Arvinder Singh and senior Bhartiya Janata Party leaders Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Jagdish Mukhi.

Dikshit said the committee would go through the recommendations made by previous committees such as Virendra Prakash Committee, Balkrishnan Committee, Ashok Pradhan committee, Deep Bandhu committee and then come up with its recommendations.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani on Tuesday suggested public funding of political parties for the elections, contending that it will help weed out corruption from politics.

‘There should be public funding of political parties for elections and once the amount is fixed by the state, the parties will not have to depend on big (business) houses,’ Advani told reporters at a press conference of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders in Delhi.

Advani, who during the course of the Lok Sabha electioneering announced public funding of elections as the party’s agenda for governance, said he looked forward to a day when this would be done.

BJP  asked the Delhi government to declare a public holiday on Chhath Puja, a festival in which Hindu god Sun is worshipped.

“The government should declare a public holiday on Chhath Puja or, if not, at least a restricted holiday keeping in mind the number of people celebrating this festival here. As many as 50 lakh people do Chhath Puja in Delhi,” BJP’s Delhi unit chief Vijendra Gupta said.

He also demanded sufficient security arrangements at the Chhath ghats. “Also, supply of power, water and transport should be ensured and health camps organised so that the devotees should not feel inconvenienced.”

BJP also asked for the Yamuna banks to be cleaned besides arrangements for free parking at the ghats.