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.