MCB fund crunch: SAD-BJP councillors to protest today

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 15

SAD leader and former MLA Sarup Singla on Friday held a meeting with SAD-BJP councillors at his office to discuss strategy to counter the Congress government for not releasing funds for development works to the Municipal Corporation of Bathinda (MCB).

It was decided that they would stage a protest against the Congress government at Fire Brigade Chowk on Saturday at 10.30 am.

Each councillor has been asked to bring at least 15 persons from his/her ward for the protest, along with empty buckets and bowls, so that they would beg for money from residents for the development of the city.

In the meeting, the SAD-BJP alliance failed to put up a united face as only two BJP councillors — Pankaj Arora and Sukhmander Singh — were present out of the total eight councillors from the party.

It is learnt that a few senior BJP councillors were not invited for the meeting and even they were unaware of Saturday’s protest.

SAD leader and former MLA Sarup Chand Singla said, “We called a meeting as the Congress government is not giving funds to the MCB for development works, due to which many problems have arisen. So we have decided to stage a protest.”

Mayor Balwant Rai Nath said, “The state government has given funds for development to Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar, but step-motherly treatment was being meted out to Bathinda as no funds for development works have been given to the MCB.”

Political experts claim that the SAD-BJP has delayed in reacting over the issue as now, the state government has diverted the funds to the Bathinda Improvement Trust to carry out the development works in the city.