The rift between UT Administrator and Chandigarh BJP has intensified with war of words witnessed during the Administrator’s Advisory Council (AAC) meeting held on Thursday.
A heated argument erupted at the AAC meeting between Administrator Shivraj Patil and BJP leaders over the issue of holding the Council’s meet, in the absence of newly elected city MP Kirron Kher.Following heated exchange of words, three BJP leaders including Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon, former city MP Satya Pal Jain and District President, Bhajan Singh Maru walked out of the Council’s meeting protesting against the alleged undemocratic attitude of Administration led by Patil.
The trouble began when Tandon and Jain questioned Patil for holding the meeting in Kher’s absence. Within the first few minutes of the meeting, both the leaders started questioning Administration’s intention on fixing the date of AAC meet in a hurry.The leaders said that not a single meeting has been convened in last more than a year, then why the Administration could not wait for 10 more days to ensure presence of city MP in the meeting.
On this, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Patil replied that the city MP is a member of Council and we can not wait for every member to attend the meeting. If she has any suggestion, she can send it to the Administration later. Patil said the matter pertaining to the Chandigarh Master Plan 2031 is pending in Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Administration had already got a number of extensions from the HC for the completion of the Master Plan.
BJP leaders responded saying Kher is representative of Chandigarh who would raise the issue of city in Parliament and should not be ignored like this. Expressing displeasure over the whole issue, the BJP leaders then walked out within half an hour of the start of the meeting. Following the high drama at the AAC meet, the BJP seems to be in no mood to resolve the issue and has now, decided to raise it with Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Talking to The Pioneer, city BJP president Sanjay Tandon said, “The city MP was ignored and was not consulted before fixing the date of AAC meeting. Even as she had written to them requesting to postpone the meeting, the Administration neglected her request.” “We have prepared a report and will send it to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on how the city MP has been neglected by Administration on an important city issue of UT Master Plan. The BJP will also apprise the Ministry about how AAC has failed to serve the purpose for which it was formed and how the UT Administration has delayed in finalising the UT Master Plan,” he added.
Notably, in a letter written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh recently, Kirron had submitted that the UT Administration did not consult her before finalising the date of the AAC meeting. After which, the MHA had sought an explanation from the UT Administration. The final report of the UT Master Plan with the recommendations of Board of Inquiry and Hearing and the UT Administration was presented before the members of the Advisory Council for discussion on Thursday.
A senior UT official requesting anonymity said that the BJP has politicised the issue and there was no need to get into an argument with UT Administrator. All AAC members condemned the walkout of BJP leaders. The discussion on Master Plan was held for about two hours and all members gave their suggestions, he added.