Ludhiana: Amid uproar in MC House, 1,054 agendas passed in 18 minutes
The municipal corporation (MC) on Friday passed its budget comprising 1,054 development agendas worth crores of rupees in just 18 minutes, triggering uproar from the BJP and the Congress councillors. The general house meeting, held at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan, witnessed fierce protests, slogan-shouting and walkout by Opposition members who alleged that they had received the lengthy agenda list only the previous night, leaving them with no time to study the proposals.
The meeting, which began at around 10.10 am, was attended by mayor Inderjit Kaur, senior deputy mayor, deputy mayor, AAP MLAs, MC commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal and senior officials. As the meeting commenced, BJP and Congress councillors demanded a zero hour before the agenda items were taken up. They further complained that the detailed list of development proposals, which had been passed in earlier finance and contract committee (F&CC) meetings, had not been shared with them in time.
Despite their protests, the agenda was read out by Rajeev Bhardwaj, in charge of the agenda branch, on the commissioner's directive. Throughout the reading and approval of the items, Opposition councillors raised slogans, chanting 'shame shame AAP government' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', terming the process a 'mockery of democracy'. However, the AAP councillors, along with the Mayor and MLAs, continued with the proceedings and passed the proposals amid the ruckus.
Later, BJP and Congress leaders condemned the functioning of the civic body, accusing the mayor and AAP legislators of sidelining elected councillors from the Opposition parties. BJP's district president Rajnish Dhiman said the manner in which the general house meeting was conducted was undemocratic. 'If all decisions are to be taken solely by the mayor and ruling party MLAs, what is the point of calling a house meeting?' he questioned.
Dhiman also criticised the 'paperless budget' approach, stating that sending hundreds of agenda items to councillors on WhatsApp late at night and expecting a discussion early next morning was unacceptable. 'The budget was passed without any proper debate or input from opposition members. This is not how a democratic institution should function,' he added.
BJP's leader of Opposition Poonam Ratra and deputy leader Rohit Sikka echoed similar sentiments. They alleged that the mayor had shown no interest in allowing discussion or suggestions from councillors. 'The way the budget was pushed through shows that development is not a priority. The mayor is only interested in pleasing her party MLAs,' Ratra said. Sikka added that the BJP would now hit the streets to protest and raise awareness among citizens about how opposition councillors' work was being stalled deliberately.
Leaders from the Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP and Congress also held a joint media briefing outside the venue soon after the session ended. They alleged corruption in the ongoing streetlight project worth crores, claiming that 8,500 LED lights were being allocated unfairly. 'AAP workers are getting lights even in places where they are not needed, while our wards are left in the dark,' a leader alleged.
Congress leader Shyam Sunder Malhotra criticised the administration for 'not sending printed copies of the agenda despite repeated requests'. 'This is against the rules. Councillors have the right to study the proposals in advance. We are not here for politics but for development. We will move court. The court will cancel the agendas passed by AAP leaders amid favoritism ahead of the Ludhiana West constituency bypoll,' he said.
Meanwhile, MC officials stated that the general house approved regularisation of nearly 800 overage employees, including gardeners, beldars and drivers. They also highlighted implementation of 'e-Nigam' — a digital governance initiative under which all future general house and F&CC meetings would go paperless, similar to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. Officials said the agenda had been shared digitally through WhatsApp as part of this initiative.
In another key resolution, the house approved the takeover of several areas under the LIT scheme for maintenance, including Maharishi Valmiki Nagar, Rajguru Nagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (SBS Nagar), Bharat Nagar Extension, Sant Ishar Singh Nagar and Sukhdev Enclave. Residents of these localities have long been demanding civic services, and the decision is expected to bring them major relief.
Present during the meeting were AAP MLAs Daljit Singh Bhola Grewal, Madan Lal Bagga, Ashok Prashar Pappi, Kulwant Singh Sidhu, Rajinder Pal Kaur Chhina, senior deputy mayor Rakesh Prashar, deputy mayor Prince Johar, MC additional commissioner Paramdeep Singh, joint commissioners Ankur Mahindroo, Abhishek Sharma, Vineet Kumar and zonal commissioners Gurpal Singh, Neeraj Jain and Jasdev Singh Sekhon among others.
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