Up in arms against the UT Administration, the Chandigarh BJP seems in no mood to call a truce with the authorities.
A day after its leaders walked out of Administrator’s Advisory Council (AAC) meeting, the city BJP has now written to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) accusing the Administration of adopting undemocratic attitude.
Following heated exchange of words with UT Administrator Shivraj Patil, three BJP leaders including Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon, former city MP Satya Pal Jain and District president, Bhajan Singh Maru had walked out of the Council’s meeting held on Thursday.
The party has alleged that the AAC meeting was held deliberately in the absence of BJP’s Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher.
In a letter written to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the BJP has complained about the nonchalant attitude of senior functionaries of UT Administration. The BJP has alleged that the Administration has been ignoring the newly elected city Member of Parliament.
“The Administration does not consult the city MP on crucial issues pertaining to Chandigarh and this trend has been going on since the term of previous city MPs. This trend has to end to ensure effective functioning of the UT Administration and overall development of Chandigarh,” said the party city unit.
The party has also apprised the MHA about Thursday’s AAC meet which was held in the absence of Chandigarh
MP Kher.
While talking to The Pioneer, Sanjay Tandon, Chandigarh BJP president said, “The party has raised the issue with the Home Ministry. The Administration has adopted an undemocratic approach and has neglected the Chandigarh Member of Parliament. They have been ignoring the city MP since past few years but they would have to change their
attitude now.”
“The issue is not only AAC meeting but the overall functioning of Administration. The higher authorities are not working effectively at present and there are many loopholes, which needs to be plugged,” he said. He added, “The Advisory Council was supposed to meet at least three times in a year but the seventh meeting held on Thursday took place after a gap of more than 18 months.”
The party has requested the Home Ministry to look into the matter and issue necessary directions to the UT Administration, added Tandon.
At Advisory Council meeting on Thursday, a heated argument had erupted between UT Administrator Shivraj Patil and BJP leaders over the issue of holding the Council’s meet, in absence of Kher.
The final report of Chandigarh 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 a discussion.
While the BJP had alleged that the Administration did not consult Kher before convening the Council’s meet and Kher was deliberately ignored by the UT Administration, the Administration clarified that the matter pertaining to UT Master Plan 2031 is pending in Punjab and Haryana High Court and they had already got a number of extensions from the HC for the completion of Master Plan and cannot wait for every member of the Council to attend the meeting to discuss the plan.
Meanwhile, the Administrator Shivraj Patil, holding out an olive branch to the BJP, had later said that the members who could not attend Council’s meet on Thursday can send their recommendations on Master Plan draft later.
After the Council’s meeting, the senior UT functionaries also talked to Kher and decided to call another meeting of AAC on June 30 after consulting her.
This is not the first time when the BJP has targeted the Administration over an issue. The party has earlier picked apart the Administration on the issues including non-implementation of MSMED Act, demand of allowing need-based changes, violation notices and hefty penalty to commercial units, to name a few.