Jab vote maangne aate hain to hamare paer dhote hain

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 29

The monthly House meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation hit a new low yet again with a nominated councillor using “unparliamentary” language against elected Congress councillors. The Congress councillors also paid back in the same coin and later boycotted the meeting.

The Congress councillors also staged a dharna outside the MC building. Later, Mayor Arun Sood convinced them to end the protest.

Earlier in the day, as a discussion over an incident that took place during the last meeting in which a nominated councillor, Prof Aruna Goel, had threatened to slap former Mayor and Congress councillor Subhash Chawla, was going on, another nominated councillor, Dr Shagufta Praveen, targeted Congress councillors for raising the issue in the absence of Goel.

Shagufta used unparliamentary language and said, “Jab aap (Congress councillors) vote maangne aate hain to hamare (nominated councillors’) paer dhote hain”. Shagufa also opposed Congress councillor Subhash Chawla’s alleged remarks against nominated councillors in a discussion on a WhatsApp group and said the Congress considered them as “use and throw”. 

Shagufta was talking in context with the mayoral poll in which the nominated councillors’ votes are generally the deciding factor. This time, a majority of the nominated councillors openly campaigned for Arun Sood, who was the BJP candidate for the post of Mayor, and voted in his favour.

Congress councillors reacted sharply to Shagufta’s remarks. City Congress president and party councillor Pardeep Chhabra said, “You should clean our (Congress councillors’) feet for making you a nominated councillor”. 

“Shagufta first used the Congress to become a nominated councillor and later used the BJP for being nominated as a member of the Wakf Board of Chandigarh. Nominated councillors have exposed themselves,” said former Mayor and Congress councillor Poonam Sharma.

Mayor Arun Sood apologised to both Congress and nominated councillors and appealed to them to maintain the decorum of the House. 

Nothing new

• May 30, 2016: Nominated councillor Aruna Goel threatened to slap former Mayor and Congress councillor Subhash Chawla.
• November 30, 2015:  Mayor Poonam Sharma and BJP leader Arun Sood exchanged “unparliamentary” words.
• August 27, 2015: BJP and Congress councillors manhandled one another. 
• May 24, 2013: Congress councillor Poonam Sharma and BJP councillors Heera Negi and Rajinder Kaur Rattu came to blows.