Uproar in MC House as BJP distributes sweets over fund assurance by Guv

Distributing sweets over the assurance given by Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria about giving Rs 238 crore to the cash-starved Municipal Corporation created a ruckus in the General House meeting of Municipal Corporation (MC) here today. The Congress and AAP alleged that the BJP councillors and Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla disrespected the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack by distributing sweets.

The Congress councillors walked out of the meeting and even wrote to the UT Administrator, seeking the Mayor’s resignation and an apology by the BJP councillors to the public. Leader of the Opposition from AAP Jaswinder Kaur, along with all party councillors, also boycotted the meeting.

It all started when the Mayor told the staff to distribute the photocopies of The Tribune’s exclusive interview with the Governor among all councillors just before the meeting began. While quoting the news report, which appeared in these columns on Wednesday, she thanked the Governor for assuring that the MC would get Rs 238-crore fund.

As soon as the Mayor ended her statement, the BJP councillors started distributing sweets in the House, which was opposed by the Opposition councillors.

Congress councillor Gurpreet Gabi, along with other Opposition councillors, walked to the Mayor’s chair and started shouting slogans against the BJP. Gabi condemned the act of distributing sweets, and said it had exposed the double standards of the BJP. He said the distribution of sweets minutes after paying tribute to the Pahalgam massacre victims was disrespect to them. They all walked out of the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Mayor said she was the daughter of an Army officer who fought six wars. The Opposition councillors were playing politics over the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The councillors must welcome the Governor’s move. She supported the resolution to oppose the action of the Opposition councillors in the MC House. As the meeting started, the Congress and AAP strongly protested the increase in the property tax and the proposal of increasing parking fee.

Wearing black clothes and bands, the Congress councillors shouted slogans such as “Tax wali party murdabad” and “Badhe hue tax wapis lo”. They also raised slogans against Pakistan.

The BJP councillors, Saurabh Joshi, Maheshinder Singh Sidhu and Kanwarjeet Singh, said the Opposition’s action was condemnable.

Joshi said The Tribune’s news report revealed that the efforts made by the Mayor bore results. Sidhu said the announcement made by the Governor thwarted the Opposition councillors’ plan to oppose the Mayor over the financial crisis.

Joshi said since they had no other plan to corner the BJP, they decided to politicise the issue of Pahalgam killings.

Later, in a statement, Chandigarh AAP president Vijay pal Singh also condemned the incident. He said the party demanded the immediate resignation of the BJP councillors and the Mayor for their act of distributing sweets. He also demanded a public apology from the Mayor and the city BJP to the people of the nation.

Senior Deputy Mayor Jasbir Singh Bunty and Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta also criticised the BJP for increasing the tax.

Chandigarh