The Indian Express 28.11.2013
Eight nominated MC councillors to pledge support to merger of villages
The nominated councillors of the municipal corporation will submit a
memorandum to the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil
expressing their support to the resolution of merger of 13 villages into
the MC. Of the nine nominated councillors, eight have extended their
support.
This follows contentions by the BJP-SAD councillors and one
nominated councillor that the voting on the resolution did not happen
correctly and that it was stated to be passed even though there was no
majority.
A special General House meeting of the MC was held on November 21
after the UT Administration asked for the MC’s opinion on the merger of
villages into municipal limits. While 10 villages have already been
transferred to the civic body, it has been proposed that the remaining
13 should also be merged. Following this, the MC prepared a resolution
that was presented in the House and passed. After this, nominated
councillor Surinder Bahga submitted a representation to the Mayor asking
for another meeting and proper voting to be done. A similar
representation was also given by BJP-SAD councillors to the Municipal
Commissioner.
The eight nominated councillors will now submit a representation
to Patil extending support to the merger. Nominated councillor M P Kohli
said, “We are extending support to the resolution not to support the
Congress, but because it was mooted by the Administration. The
development of the villages would take place once they are transferred
to the MC.”
The role played by the nominated councillors in the MC House over
the past several years has been a contentious issue with political
parties divided over this. With nine nominated councillors in the
36-member MC House, they can tilt the result of the Mayoral elections on
either side. Senior BJP leaders had announced a decision to move the
court against the right of nominated councillors to vote. However, the
BJP has not acted on this till date.
There are 26 elected councillors in the MC House, nine nominated and one
ex-officio member. Of the 26 elected, there are 12 from Congress, 11
from BJP-SAD, two from BSP and one nominated councillor.
