Mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) Madhu Sood has taken exception to the manner in which development projects executed by the corporation were being got inaugurated by local MLA Suresh Bharadwaj ignoring the elected body.
Talking to mediapersons here today, she said there seemed to be a conspiracy by the ruling BJP to undermine the authority and stature of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor of the Congress-ruled civic body.
The local area development funds of MPs and MLAs were being given directly to youth clubs and other such bodies bypassing the corporation. There was no proper supervision of such works and also no transparency, she said and demanded an inquiry into such spending of funds. She asserted that funds should be transferred to the corporation by the Deputy Commissioner to ensure proper utilisation.
While maintaining that the BJP was making a constant effort to undermine the authority of the elected body, she referred to the proposed inauguration of the parking lot constructed in lower Phagli for which funds were given by the corporation and also the MLA. The invitation card for the function to be held on March 18 deliberately omitted the name of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, which was shocking, while the name of BJP councillors appeared twice in it.
The BJP had been taking credit for granting 50 per cent reservations to women in local bodies and panchayati raj institutions, but handing out a raw deal to elected women representatives on political considerations.
The Mayor added that since elections were approaching fast, the local MLA was on a inauguration spree, and earlier this week he inaugurated a park at Jakhu for which Rs 5.41 lakh was provided by the corporation and Rs 3 lakh by the MLA and elected representatives of the corporation were not given due credit.
