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HT Spotlight | UT’s ward 5 councillor: Most boxes ticked, some unchecked
A two-time mayor, in 2003 and 2013, Subhash Chawla (61) is a seasoned politician known for his fiery speeches. A Congress heavy-weight, he has, however, failed to live up to the expectations of the residents of his ward.
A two-time mayor, in 2003 and 2013, Subhash Chawla (61) is a seasoned politician known for his fiery speeches. A Congress heavy-weight, he has, however, failed to live up to the expectations of the residents of his ward. The businessman has failed to devise a solution to the disposal of cow dung from green belts in the Dhanas Milk Colony. Failure to completely develop the Sector-25 Colony is another sore point with residents here.
His largely ineffectual term as mayor in 2013 – he was elected due to his loyalty to the party and proximity to former railway minister and the city MP Pawan Bansal – was marked by frequent adjournments after heated arguments between councillors. During this term, he promised to make the city free of construction waste and stray cattle, better maintenance of parks and start of beautification projects. However, nothing moved as he was caught in procedural wrangles in the House. Those sympathetic to him say Opposition councillors ganged up and did not allow him to show his administrative and governance skills.
Earlier this year, the Congress lost the mayoral elections due to the nominated councillors not supporting the party. Soon after, Chawla was involved in tiffs with two nominated councillors — Shagufta Parveen and Aruna Goel. At a House meeting in June, Shagufta remarked that they (implying the Congress leaders) had “…washed her feet when they needed votes”. An angry Chawla had responded, “You claim to a doctorate in Persian, yet by your language, you appear illiterate.” In another House meeting on May 30, nominated councillor Aruna threatened to slap Chawla, who warned that he would ‘break her bones’. He even had a verbal spat with BJP councillors Arun Sood, Asha Jaswal and Satish Kainth.
In spite of this occasional tendency to lapse into ‘unparliamentarily’ language, Chawla usually convinced the House and the MC officers of his point of view.
He is credited with the development of the Central Park in Chaman Colony, the development of Valley Park in Housing Board Colony, the construction of a community centre and the development of 50 neighbourhood parks in Dhanas and Sector 25.
“My biggest achievement was connecting Kajauli waterworks with Sector 25,” he says.
Congress sources say Chawla is likely to contest the December elections against mayor Arun Sood. In 1974, Chawla joined the Congress at 20. He was into fodder trade, a business he inherited. He also headed the Chandigarh Youth Congress in the 1970s.
Chawla contested the first MC election in 1996, when the civic body was formed, but lost from Ward 4. In 2011, he contested from Ward 5, after Ward 4 was declared reserved, and won. Chawla says he sold fodder for nine years before venturing into transport business that wound up in 2004.
He even drove a truck for a living, a friend says. Now, he runs a shop in Sector 17.
Tomorrow: Ward 6 Sat Parkash Aggarwal
