Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, Chandigarh Mayor, recently held a budget meeting against the letters from UT Administration and the Municipal Corporation commissioner, as a result, BJP councilors are demanding that the whole meeting should be declared illegal and the expense spent on the session should be recovered from the Mayor himself.
BJP Councillors explained that as per rules, the budget has to be first tabled before the Finance & Contract Committee of the MC and then later on presented before the General House for discussion including the financial panel for the discussion but the as per current situation, the formation of Finance & Contract Committee is yet to be completed, thus the meeting served no purpose and should be considered illegal.
In a complaint submitted by BJP councillors, this fact was brought forward among the senior officials of the UT Administration and the MC, highlighting the ”brazen misuse of office by the Mayor and the councilors belonging to AAP and the Congress”.
BJP councillors alleged that the Mayor, Dhalor does not care about the rules and the consequences, as he considers himself above the law. They believe that the Mayor is misusing his powers by indulging himself in these kinds of abrupt and illegal acts all to fulfil the interest of the political party.
Further, they have requested the authorities to treat the meeting as ‘void ab initio’ and to null and void all the decisions taken during the meeting under sections 05, 406 A(i), 422, and 423 of the MC Act. They added that the expenditure incurred for the meeting such as the preparation of lunch, snacks, videography, etc, should be recovered from him under Section 416 of the MC Act, which is expected to be in several lakhs.
Jatinder Pal Malhotra, head of the city’s BJP party, urged UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit to address the issue of the Mayor’s office decor, as AAP’s decision to remove photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, the President, the PM, the MP, and the UT Administrator from their designated wall and putting them on to another is an insult to their constitutional positions.
In response to that, the Mayor said,” Every party has their leaders’ photos. What is wrong with it? We take inspiration from the two leaders, so we have put up their photos.” He added, “If the budget, which is a public welfare, is passed, I am ready to bear the expense of the meeting. The BJP is playing politics on the issue to stop us from doing work”.
This controversy has highlighted the clash between the Mayor and the BJP over the procedure and protocol. While the BJP seeks to invalidate the meeting and hold the mayor responsible for financial and legal transgressions, the Mayor on the other hand is defending his actions by accusing the BJP of playing dirty politics rather than considering the well-being of the citizens.
This situation has created a complex scenario: following protocol versus delivering public goods, with the city’s budget hanging in the balance.
