Newly elected Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Delhi’s newly elected Mayor Shelly Oberoi says she has started meeting BJP leaders outside the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House in her personal capacity. In an interview with Today News 24, the first-time AAP councillor said her colleagues from the BJP have ensured their cooperation but they behave differently inside the House and are not letting her run it smoothly. Excerpts
MCD has many legacy issues, including the perennial problem of fund crunch. What are your plans in this regard? Do you have a road map?
Our road map is ready and we are going to address the financial crisis and work on all those issues which are pending due to fund crunch. The Delhi government and the MCD are going to work together to solve it.
In the run-up to the MCD elections, AAP promised to clear the landfills. The Chief Minister had also said during the election campaign that the party had prepared a blueprint on clearing the landfills…
I visited one of the landfills along with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia a few days ago. Soon, we are going to visit all the landfills and our work has already started.
Could you share some details of the blueprint?
Not right now.
You will be in office for just over a month. What is the one thing you want to get done during this time?
We are going to work step by step on all issues. We are going to tackle all problems simultaneously. We are working on cleanliness, roads and landfills. And soon we are going to work on improving schools.
Do you think the party is going to re-elect you considering that you have such a short tenure?
That is for the party to decide. I will accept it, if the party gives me a chance.
In MCD, your party has 134 councillors and the BJP has 104, and Wednesday night showed how difficult it is to run the House. How do you plan to tackle it?
We know that they are going to create a ruckus every time in the House. I plan to tackle this situation by appealing to them [BJP councillors]. Yesterday, I requested them 13 times [13 adjournments] to remain calm and let me run the House.
Are you planning to reach out to BJP leaders in a personal capacity as well?
We met [with the BJP leaders] and requested them to let us run the House peacefully, but what they say outside the House is different and how they behave inside. Outside, they agree that they are going to cooperate. They don’t cooperate inside the House and are not letting me run it in a smooth way. I’m making an appeal again, let us work together.
The MCD often says that its internal revenues are not enough to pay salaries to employees. Has AAP chalked out a financial plan?
We will definitely work on a plan. Also, we will try our best to regularise the ad hoc employees.
