The Chandigarh Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday questioned the alleged “interference of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in the working of Chandigarh”.
The statement from BJP came after Chandigarh AAP councillors stated that Mann assured them (AAP councillors) of having a meeting with Municipal Commissioner (Punjab cadre officer) Anindita Mitra and a meeting with Chandigarh Administration officials when they to him that their development works were not being carried out and officers weren’t listening to them. The AAP councillors told Mann that their agenda items were not brought in the House and officers didn’t listen to them. They had even referred to the Municipal Commissioner who is a Punjab cadre officer.
City BJP chief Arun Sood stated that the “AAP wanted to control Chandigarh from Punjab and the CM’s interference in the Chandigarh Administration will not be tolerated”.
“It is petty politics which AAP is doing. Interference of Bhagwant Mann in the Chandigarh Administration will not be tolerated under any circumstances. It has become clear that the Aam Aadmi Party wants to control Chandigarh from Punjab. The Chief Minister of Punjab has no right to interfere in the affairs of the Chandigarh Administration. Anandita Mitra (Municipal Commissioner) and other officers who have come to Chandigarh from Punjab are all civil service level administrative officers and as long as they are on deputation in Chandigarh Administration, their accountability is to the Administrator of Chandigarh or the administration and not to the Government of Punjab. Who is the Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann to interfere in the working of Chandigarh Administration?” Sood said, adding that “Aam Aadmi Party wants direct intervention of the Punjab Government in Chandigarh and wants to control Chandigarh from Punjab which will not be accepted under any circumstances”. He added as to what right Bhagwant Mann has while he assured the councillors that he will speak to the officers, including Municipal Commissioner, as told by AAP councillors. “Do they want to run Chandigarh with a remote control like their government is being run by remote control in Delhi? Aam Aadmi Party is putting pressure on Chandigarh officials,” Sood said.
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Mayor Sarabjit Kaur stated that not a single development agenda item brought by the AAP has been stopped in the Municipal Corporation. “Never has it happened that any agenda item of AAP councillors has been stalled by us. Whenever we bring the agendas, the AAP along with Congress tries to reject it. They want to do politics only,” she said.
Sood reiterated that the BJP’s stand has always been that Chandigarh should remain a UT and should not be part of either Punjab or Haryana. “The way Haryana doesn’t interfere in Chandigarh’s working, Punjab shouldn’t as well,” he said.
Only on Wednesday, Chandigarh AAP got another co-incharge which is Mohali AAP MLA Kulwant Singh. He was appointed despite Pardeep Chhabra being the co-incharge of AAP in Chandigarh. Kulwant also accompanied the councillors to meet Mann.
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