BJP candidate Gian Chand Gupta ‘skips’ debate on Jhuriwala garbage dump, Panchkula residents fume

Residents of Sectors 23 to 28, 31 and members of Sangram Jhuriwala Dumping Ground Committee have decided not to vote for BJP candidate Gian Chand Gupta and INLD candidate Kshitij Chaudhary over their failure to attend their debate on the long-standing Jhuriwala and Sector 23 garbage dumping ground issue.

They have decided to drop their decision to boycott the polls after Congress candidate Chander Mohan, JJP and ASP candidate Sushil Garg, Aam Aadmi Party’s Prem Garg and Independents MP Sharma and Bharat Bhushan Chaudhary attended the debate and assured those present of immediate action on the matter.

Residents of the area had invited all candidates at the Jhuriwala dumping ground to present their views regarding the issue. While the others reached the site, BJP’s Gupta and INLD’s Chaudhary remained absent.

Nitesh Mittal of the committee said, “Gupta’s absence shows his insensitivity to the issue. The matter is also missing from his manifesto. Consequently, the local people have unanimously decided not to vote for him and Chaudhary.”

Meanwhile, at the dumping ground residents pointed out that garbage was still being dumped there. Chander Mohan said he would prioritise resolving the Jhuriwala dumping ground issue before January 1, 2025, and would shift it to an alternative site. Prem Garg said he was working to resolve the issue in Chandigarh and had a strategy for Jhuriwala as well. He said temporarily he would ensure to send the city’s waste to a processing plant and will implement a permanent strategy to ensure segregation of waste at source.

Sushil Garg said he had been opposing the Jhuriwala dumping ground as a councillor and would get it relocated it to a forest area.

Later, residents of the area decided to withdraw their earlier decision to boycott the elections. “We will cast our votes for candidates other than Gupta and Chaudhary, who will address our problems effectively,” they said.

Didn’t get invite: Gupta

While Kshitij Chaudhary of the INLD could not be contacted, Gian Chand Gupta of the BJP said he did not receive any invitation. He said, “They are lying. They did not send me any invitation. It is a political stunt by my rivals. Also, a gathering of mere 40-50 persons do not represent the whole residents of the sectors.” During his tenure, the administration had removed a majority of garbage from the Sector 23 dumping ground.