Ludhiana: AAP councillor faces party heat for raising a stink over sanitation

BJP leader Gurdeep Singh Gosha has demanded that the Ludhiana mayor make public the complete list of 1,208 workers recruited or deployed by the MC, alleging that around 90% could be dummy employees

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has issued a show-cause notice to its Ward 19 councillor (Chandigarh Road), Nidhi Gupta, accusing her of anti-party activities after she raised concerns over poor sanitation and garbage lifting in her ward during Monday’s municipal corporation (MC) General House meeting.

Nidhi Gupta, the Aam Aadmi Party’s Ward 19 councillor. (HT)

The action comes amid a wider controversy over the deployment of sanitation workers. BJP leader Gurdeep Singh Gosha has demanded that the Ludhiana mayor make public the complete list of 1,208 workers recruited or deployed by the MC, alleging that around 90% could be dummy employees.

Gupta has been asked to respond within a week and explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against her. The notice accuses her of forming a “separate faction” and failing to align herself with the party.

Defending herself, Gupta described the notice as the result of a misunderstanding and maintained that raising civic issues was an essential part of her responsibilities as a councillor. She said she had been highlighting sanitation concerns on her social media accounts even before Monday’s meeting.

She also alleged that chief sanitary officer Nishu Ghai had failed to provide sanitation workers in her ward with the equipment required for proper garbage collection. She said she learnt about the problem after speaking to workers on the ground and subsequently raised it in the House.

Municipal officials staged a walkout after the issue was brought up.

“I learnt from the workers that the chief sanitary officer was not providing them with the equipment required for proper garbage lifting. I raised the issue in the House because addressing such civic problems is my responsibility as a councillor. If matters like these cannot be discussed at a General House meeting, what is its purpose?” Gupta said.

AAP district president Jatinder Khangura defended the party’s position, saying civic and administrative concerns should be discussed internally rather than highlighted publicly. “We are the ruling party in the state and the civic body is also under the AAP. Such issues should not be publicly highlighted but discussed in the House,” he said.

Gupta rejected the suggestion that her intervention amounted to indiscipline. “I have not spoken against the party or the government’s policies. I have simply performed my basic duty as a councillor,” she said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Gosha has demanded that the mayor release the complete list of 1,208 sanitation workers recruited or deployed by the municipal corporation alleging that around 90% of them could be dummy employees. He also questioned whether the workers were actually reporting for duty.

Gosha also alleged that the recruitment and deployment process might have benefited relatives and close associates of elected representatives and demanded verification of the workers’ names, ward-wise postings, attendance records and duty registers to establish how many were working on the ground.