MC passes 2 agenda items, postpones meet

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 13

Congress councilors on Friday could manage to pass a few items with majority in the meeting of the SAD-BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation.

The meeting has been postponed to September 18, after councilors accused Mayor Balwant Rai Nath of not sending the meeting agenda in time, due to which they did not get any time to prepare for the proposals listed in it. A councilor also alleged that he had not received meeting agenda from the MC.

At the start of the meeting, a two-minute silence was observed to pay tribute to the former Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ram Jethmalani, MLA from Mukerian Rajneesh Kumar Babbi and former Councilor Shinder Kaur, who died recently.

Later, BJP leader and Deputy Mayor Gurinderpal Kaur Mangat said: “For a long time, we have been repeating that agenda should be given in time and Councilors should be taken into confidence while preparing it. What was the emergency that agenda was distributed at 11 pm on Tuesday night.”

Following her, BJP leader and senior Deputy Mayor Tarsem Goyal said: “I did not want to come for the meeting as we have no information of the issues listed in the agenda.” Goyal also stated that as per the MC Act, a councillor must be provided with agenda 72 hours before the meeting. “Our coming generation will never forget us for leaving the MC in such a mess,” he said.

Congress Councillor Beant Singh Randhawa said he had not even received the agenda of the meeting. Later, Mayor Balwant Rai Nath said “As the agenda was sent late, we can postpone the meeting to September 18, but two items pertaining to cases involving Triveni Company contract and JITF Company and development works listed in the agenda are important, so I request we pass this and keep other items in the agenda pending.”