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Ludhiana: Jakhar joins BJP protest against mayor, demands audit of funds
BJP state president Sunil Jakhar questioned the utilisation of funds under the Smart City Project, stating that over ₹900 crore has been received from the Centre, but the on-ground progress is negligible
The ongoing protest by BJP councillors against mayor Inderjit Kaur entered its fourth day on Wednesday, with BJP state president Sunil Jakhar lending his support by joining the demonstration outside the Municipal Corporation Zone D office. Jakhar slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for allegedly suppressing democratic voices and demanded immediate withdrawal of the FIR lodged against five BJP councillors. All the senior leadership from the district was present during the protest and raised slogans against the mayor and AAP government.
Addressing the protesting councillors and supporters, Jakhar said, “The mayor and the AAP-led administration must stop misusing power. Lodging an FIR against elected representatives who were raising public issues is an attack on democracy. If the FIR is not revoked, BJP will intensify its protests and gather all MC zonal offices across Ludhiana in the coming days.”
Jakhar also questioned the utilisation of funds under the Smart City Project, stating that over ₹900 crore has been received from the Centre, but the on-ground progress is negligible. He demanded a third-party audit of all the projects undertaken under the scheme. “We want a complete audit report to be made public. The people of Ludhiana have the right to know where this money has gone,” he added.
Jakhar also pointed out the recent arrest of the superintendent engineer by the Vigilance Bureau under the charges of corruption regarding the development project of the city.
Senior BJP leader and advocate Bikram Singh Sidhu said, “MC is miserably failed to maintain the city as roads are in deplorable condition, potable water is still distant dream, solid waste management is not maintained, sewerage system is also failed and MC is becoming a house of corruption and due to which we are requesting the union government of India through urban development ministry to constitute the special team to conduct a proper audit of smart funds.”
“The mayor has registered a false FIR and BJP workers will continue an indefinite strike against the mayor until the case will be revoked,” he added.
The protest began after a confrontation took place between BJP councillors and the mayor during a meeting last week. The BJP leaders alleged that the Mayor misbehaved with them when they tried to raise civic issues. The Municipal Corporation later filed an FIR against five BJP councillors and 20 others, which further escalated the tension.
The protest had seen participation from councillors and leaders of other parties, including the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress in the past days, who have expressed concern over the growing intolerance in local governance.
