The proposal of providing 20,000 litres of water to every household, which topped the manifesto of now dismantled Congress-Aam Aadmi Party alliance during 2024 Lok Sabha elections and was also passed as an agenda by the House the same year, has been annulled by the Chandigarh administration. While the decision to annul the agenda was taken last February, it came to the knowledge of the House only on Thursday after Congress councillor and leader of Opposition Gurpreet Singh Gabi showed the official letter to the House, resulting in high drama.
The communication from local bodies department of the Chandigarh administration to MC commissioner on February 21, 2025, read: “The matter was referred to the law department, UT, for their advice in the matter. It is hereby informed that since the decision of the MC…is against the bylaws, therefore, the government is competent to annul the decision in accordance with the MC Act.”
Ward 34 councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi accused the MC administration of withholding information regarding the fate of this proposal. He said that the proposal had been unanimously passed during a House meeting in 2024, but rejected and returned by the local secretary in 2025.
Gabi said that after the proposal was rejected, it should have been placed before the House again for discussion as per rules.
“Whenever a proposal passed by the House is returned, it should be brought back before the House for reconsideration,” he said. He alleged that the MC administration and former mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla failed to do so, thereby depriving city residents of a facility and playing with their interests.
{{/usCountry}}“Whenever a proposal passed by the House is returned, it should be brought back before the House for reconsideration,” he said. He alleged that the MC administration and former mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla failed to do so, thereby depriving city residents of a facility and playing with their interests.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting sharply to the criticism, Babla said the communication which Gabi is showing is addressed to the MC commissioner by the local bodies department and nowhere are her signatures present. “How is my name dragged in this issue when I do not have any role to play in this communication?” she asked, adding that she has not signed on this letter.
In the previous House meeting held on July 31 too, the Congress councillors had raised questions over not implementing the agenda of providing 20,000 litres of water free to every household following which mayor Saurabh Joshi had asked them to ask their party MP Manish Tewari about the same as the promise was made by him.