It’s been just over a week since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs have taken charge and the credit wars have already begun.
At an all-party meeting, called by mayor Balkar Sandhu on Saturday, municipal corporation (MC) councillors accused AAP legislators in Ludhiana of taking credit for development works in their wards by inaugurating these.
The councillors also demanded that the municipal House should bring in a resolution wherein only the mayor or ward councillors concerned can inaugurate projects.
The mayor had called the meeting to discuss the proposed MC budget for the upcoming financial year. Councillors from Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were in attendance. The issue of credit for development works is likely to again come up during the MC General House meet, scheduled for Monday, as AAP MLAs are also likely to participate in it.
LIP councillor Swarandeep Chahal said, “AAP MLAs have taken oath just 10 days ago and are already inaugurating development works. These works were approved by the ward councillors. AAP MLAs are trying to take credit for the work done by councillors with an eye on municipal elections, which is not acceptable. MC should bring a resolution in the House to stop this.”
Senior SAD leader Harbhajan Dang said, “A road construction project is 90% complete in my ward and work was stopped in the past due to bad weather conditions. Now when I asked the contractor to restart the work, MLA (Atam Nagar) Kulwant Sidhu stopped the contractor from resuming work stating that he will inaugurate the project instead of the councillor. The MLAs should not interfere with councillors’ work. If they want to inaugurate works, then they should get those approved from MC themselves.”
{{/usCountry}}Senior SAD leader Harbhajan Dang said, “A road construction project is 90% complete in my ward and work was stopped in the past due to bad weather conditions. Now when I asked the contractor to restart the work, MLA (Atam Nagar) Kulwant Sidhu stopped the contractor from resuming work stating that he will inaugurate the project instead of the councillor. The MLAs should not interfere with councillors’ work. If they want to inaugurate works, then they should get those approved from MC themselves.”
{{/usCountry}}AAP councillor Rakesh Prasher, who is also the brother of Ludhiana central MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi, kept himself away from the issue.
Congress councillor Gurdep Neetu said, “Some MC officials accompany MLAs in our wards even they do not invite the councillor to the site, which is condemnable. MC officials should at least be directed to call the councillor before any inauguration or inspection.”
Meanwhile mayor Sandhu stated the matter will be discussed in the MC House.
Atam Nagar MLA Kulwant Sidhu, who stopped road construction work in ward number 34 after complaints of poor quality work, said he has been elected by public for betterment of the constituency and he will continue to work for the same.
BJP councillor Prabhjot Kaur meanwhile took a dig at Congress, stating that the councillors are reaping what they sowed. She stated that former Congress MLA from Ludhiana Central continued to take credit for projects initiated by her. Despite repeated complaints submitted even with mayor, no one opposed the same.