The Statesman 10.05.2013
LF demands polls in SMC
SILIGURI, 10 MAY: Left Front councillors
at Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) demanded election to end the
SMC impasse. The Opposition leader in the present SMC board, Mr Nurul
Islam, said election is the only way out of the logjam the civic body
has remained mired into for a long time .
“All development work
has stopped, the basic civic service has remained in a shambles, people
are at the receiving end of the endless squabbling and saber rattling
involving the Congress and the Trinamul Congress. Such a state of things
cannot be allowed to continue. We have written to Mayor Gangotri
Datta and also to SMC Commissioner P D Pradhan, but they have chosen to remain unresponsive,” Mr Islam said.
“We
are of the view that the mayor should immediately dissolve the board
and should go for a fresh mandate. The Trinamul Congress and the
Congress should also apologise to the people for having let them down,”
he added. A sit-in by the 17 Left Front councillors began today outside
the chamber of the Mayor.
However, the mayor ruled out the
possibility of election right now. “Why should we go for election? We
are confident that the Congress-led civic board would complete its
five-year term,” Ms Datta said.
“We are doing our best to address the developmental aspirations of the common people despite our limited resources,” she added.
The
Trinamul Congress also rejected the Left Front’s suggestion for fresh
election, saying that they should table a no-confidence against the
present board instead of pontificating on development.
“It is
intriguing as to why the Left Front which has 17 councillors in the
civic body is not moving no-confidence motion. Theirs indulging in
platitudes on development would not cut any ice with the people,” said a
senior ruling party leader, Mr Krishna Pal.
