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Marshals drag councillors out of House amid ruckus
The drama started around 11am with the Congress councillors entering the well of the House and raising slogans against the mayor over imposition of facilitation charges at Sampark Centres from January 1
The Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC)’s last General House meeting before the end of mayor Sarbjit Kaur’s tenure remained a stormy affair as opposition councillors staged a protest in the well of the House, leading to at least five of them being dragged out by the marshals and eight councillors being suspended by the mayor.
The drama started around 11am with the Congress councillors entering the well of the House and raising slogans against the mayor over imposition of facilitation charges at Sampark Centres from January 1. They were soon joined by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors, who voiced their objection against the plans to start on-street paid parking.
As the opposition sloganeering continued, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors started raising slogans in favour of the mayor.
Around 12.30pm, the mayor announced a tea break. But the councillors continued protests even after the House resumed following which the marshals were called in. The councillors objected to the presence of marshals, stating that there was no way to distinguish them given that they didn’t have badges or identity cards. Sensing trouble, the police were also called in.
Later, AAP councillors Anju Katyal, Damanpreet Singh, Ram Chander Singh Yadav, Lakhbir Singh and Congress councillor Jasbir Singh Bunty were escorted out by the marshals in the presence of the police. The mayor also announced the suspension of eight councillors, including two nominated councillors namely Satinder Singh and Geeta Chauhan.
After the pandemonium, the House proceedings resumed around 2pm but only BJP and nominated councillors were present and they approved all agendas. The AAP and Congress councillors boycotted the meeting and protested outside the assembly hall against the suspension of eight members.
Marshals’action, a first in two decades: Oppn
The opposition leaders condemned Thursday’s incident, claiming that this was for the first time in over two decades since the Chandigarh MC House came into existence that marshals had escorted councillors out.
Leader of Opposition and AAP councillor Yogesh Dhingra said, “The real face of the mayor has been exposed. It is for the first time that this has happened. Even women councillors were dragged out by the marshals, which is unacceptable.”
The mayor, meanwhile, said, “I was forced to call the marshals as my repeated requests to both AAP and Congress councillors went in vain. I told them that I am against the imposition of facilitation charges at Sampark Centres and on-street paid parking in Sector 35. I told them to have a discussion but they were not ready to listen.”
Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi said “By throwing out councillors during the last meeting held under her, the mayor has put a blot on her entire one-year tenure.”
Box: The bone of contention
1.On December 14, UT’s department of information technology had decided to impose facilitation charges, ranging from ₹20 to ₹25, on all services at the city’s 45 e-Sampark centres from January 1. So far, the administration had only been levying application fee but it has now decided to impose facilitation charges too, which were waived earlier with the help of a grant-in-aid from the department of information technology, UT.
2.On December 12, UT adviser Dharam Pal had directed the municipal corporation to start on-street parking paid in the residential areas of Sector 35. The adviser had told them to implement it within 15 days. The MC had prepared a pilot project for a comprehensive Mobility Plan for Chandigarh Tri-City Complex in Sector-35.
