PANCHKULA:A day after Haryana chief minister announced that the cabinet meeting will decide whether to dissolve Panchkula municipal corporation or not, mayor Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia on Sunday blamed BJP MLAs for creating problems in the running of the civic body, in an interview with Arvind Bishnoi
The Haryana chief minister has said the cabinet will take a call on dissolving Panchkula municipal corporation (MC). What do you have to say?
On one hand, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is encouraging setting up of civic bodies — a municipal corporation (MC) was established in Sonepat district, and on the other there is talk of dissolving Panchkula MC. Why just Panchkula, they should dissolve all municipal corporations of Haryana.
How did the matter of dissolving the MC reach the chief minister?
It's a political game played by BJP MLAs, Gian Chand Gupta of Panchkula and Latika Sharma of Kalka. They are against me as there are 14 Congress councillors, including the mayor, in the MC. They want a BJP mayor in Panchkula.
Don't you feel the controversies between you and the MC commissioner in the last year have affected the development works in the city?
Controversies were over development works of the city. I always asked them to work on development agenda passed in the house meeting, but the officers were reluctant to do any work. This had forced me to launch a protest against them.
What is the reason behind the MC failing to provide basic amenities to local residents?
For any work performance, there is a need of staff. Providing staff is the responsibility of the state government. We passed the agenda, but with a staff crunch and officers controlled by local politicians, work could not be carried out. It is a failure of the state government and not the MC.
Should Panchkula municipal corporation be dissolved?
The Haryana chief minister has said the cabinet will take a call on dissolving Panchkula municipal corporation (MC). What do you have to say?
On one hand, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is encouraging setting up of civic bodies — a municipal corporation (MC) was established in Sonepat district, and on the other there is talk of dissolving Panchkula MC. Why just Panchkula, they should dissolve all municipal corporations of Haryana.
How did the matter of dissolving the MC reach the chief minister?
It's a political game played by BJP MLAs, Gian Chand Gupta of Panchkula and Latika Sharma of Kalka. They are against me as there are 14 Congress councillors, including the mayor, in the MC. They want a BJP mayor in Panchkula.
Don't you feel the controversies between you and the MC commissioner in the last year have affected the development works in the city?
Controversies were over development works of the city. I always asked them to work on development agenda passed in the house meeting, but the officers were reluctant to do any work. This had forced me to launch a protest against them.
What is the reason behind the MC failing to provide basic amenities to local residents?
For any work performance, there is a need of staff. Providing staff is the responsibility of the state government. We passed the agenda, but with a staff crunch and officers controlled by local politicians, work could not be carried out. It is a failure of the state government and not the MC.
Should Panchkula municipal corporation be dissolved?
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