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Bathinda MC passes ₹174 crore budget amid pandemonium by ruling Cong councillors
The Bathinda municipal corporation passed a ₹174 crore budget for 2023-24 fiscal on Wednesday amid pandemonium by the councillors from the Congress, which has a majority in the house
The Bathinda municipal corporation passed a ₹174 crore budget for 2023-24 fiscal on Wednesday amid pandemonium by the councillors from the Congress, which has a majority in the house.
Congress has 41 members in the 50-member house, and today several of them expressed resentment over the leadership of mayor Raman Goyal.
Goyal was elected as a Congress councillor and is facing opposition for being close to the former finance minister Manpreet Badal.
After Manpreet joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) after leaving Congress, the local party leadership has been lobbying for her removal.
Mayor also enjoys the support of several Congress councillors. The local body has earmarked ₹102 crore for salaries, allowances and pensions in the next fiscal. From the estimated income of ₹174 crore in 2023-24, the local body has proposed to spend a sum of ₹37 crore on development activities.
Against a sum of ₹22 lakh kept in 2022-23 for new parks, this time, the local body plans to spend ₹4 crore on developing a green belt in the city.
Also, ₹1 crore has been earmarked for public toilets, and an equal amount has been proposed for developing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
The budget session started amid opposition from councillors of the Congress against the mayor. After this, a few other Congress councillors came in mayor’s support and demanded to start budget proceedings. But vocal opponents outnumbered Goyal’s supporters.
A senior Congress leader and councillor, Harvinder Singh Ladoo, said the mayor should clarify before the house if she is still with the Congress or has joined the BJP.
Another party councillor Malkeet Singh said the mayor has lost the confidence of the Congress party councillors and she should resign. He alleged that the mayor was hobnobbing with the opponents of the Congress and showing disinterest in development works.
“More than 31 Congress councillors are against her, and the mayor has no moral authority to continue. She should prove her majority in the house,” he added. However, the mayor did not respond to any of the points raised by her political opponents.
Before the budget meeting, Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) raised slogans against the mayor for banning the entry of journalists into the meeting hall today. Councillors threatened not to attend the crucial budget meeting as no reason was given for the sudden decision to bar reporters from covering the meeting. The proceedings began after the mayor acceded to the protest and allowed journalists to cover the session.
