Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Monday that his party wants direct elections for mayors to improve the quality of urban living.

Gandhi’s announcement comes a day before the party will release its manifesto on Tuesday for the staggered national polls that begin on April 11.

“Real smart cities are built by good leaders. To improve quality of life in our cities we will move to directly elected Mayors with 5 yr terms & elected councils. Administration will be run by multidisciplinary teams of specialists & experts accountable to the Mayor & council,” he tweeted.

Currently, mayors are elected indirectly, that is to say, from among the corporators and councillors. The state-appointed Municipal Commissioner has administrative and executive powers. A strong mayor model puts executive power in the hands of the mayor -- currently followed in many cities such as New York, Tokyo and Barcelona -- rather than the commissioner or chief executive.

Although the Constitution (seventy-fourth) Amendment Act of 1992 conferred constitutional recognition on Urban Local Bodies, it did not specify a model of governance for cities or the manner in which the chief of ULBs would be elected.

“It’s an excellent idea because that is the spirit in which the 74th amendment act was promulgated. The amendment empowers the local municipality to bring out master plans for towns and at present, the mayor is just a puppet in the hands of the commissioner,

or the state and central government who controls the finances...hence putting that power in the hands of an elected representative is a true expression of democracy,” said KT Ravindran, professor and head of urban design at the School of Planning and Architecture of New Delhi. “If you look at our 2004, 2009 and 2014 manifestos, it’s a policy initiative covering all core sectors. Unlike BJP saying they will make 100 smart cities... our focus is on the policy,” said a Congress leader .

First Published: Apr 02, 2019 07:30 IST