The announcement was made at a press conference on Monday by MCD Mayor Mahesh Khichi, Deputy Mayor Ravinder Bhardwaj, Leader of the House Mukesh Goel, and senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh (PTI)In what has been labelled as a “big gift” to homeowners in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced a waiver of pending dues by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) if residents clear their house tax for the fiscal year 2024-25.The announcement was made at a press conference on Monday by MCD Mayor Mahesh Khichi, Deputy Mayor Ravinder Bhardwaj, Leader of the House Mukesh Goel, and senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.Khichi said the AAP has always delivered on its promises and the latest decision is a major step towards easing financial burdens on homeowners.“For years, 1,300 housing apartments in Delhi received no relief. Now, they will finally get a 25% house tax waiver… Pay your house tax on time and enjoy big benefits —100% waiver for houses up to 100 sq. yards and residential shops, and 50% waiver for houses between 100-500 sq. yards in 2025-26,” Sanjay Singh said while addressing media.The motive behind the decision is to eliminate corruption in house tax collection, said MCD-incharge and former Rajender Nagar MLA Durgesh Pathak. “We will pass this proposal in MCD House on February 25 (Tuesday),” Pathak addedResponding to the party’s announcement, Leader of Opposition in the MCD Raja Iqbal Singh said that the party’s leadership is trying to mislead the people with hollow promises because they know that their mayor could be removed anytime soon and that they have lost their majority in the MCD.As the defection law does not apply to the MCD, due to the constant poaching of councillors from both the AAP and the BJP, the former has lost its majority in the civic body. The civic body still has an AAP mayor presiding over it even as its strength has come down to 114 councillors against BJP’s 116.Story continues below this ad“This is just a deception because before making any such announcement, prior approval from the Delhi Finance Commission, the Municipal Valuation Committee, and the Standing Committee is required — which are currently not even constituted,” said Singh.© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd