Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari bats for 5-year tenure for Mayor
Urges all political parties to rise above the party lines
Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari has urged all political parties to rise above the party lines and support his initiative for a five-year tenure for Mayor and a direct election to the post. In a statement released today, Tewari said this would approximately be the 30th Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor elected since 1996, accounting for 90 eminences in all — all good people but structurally powerless and ineffectual, to put it very mildly and kindly.
The time has come to evaluate whether the current system of electing a Mayor and his deputies for a one-year term has worked for the civic governance of Chandigarh or not, he asked.
The answer clearly is that it has not worked otherwise the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh would not be plagued by such systemic issues and challenges, particularly a perennial resource crunch.
The only way out of this morass is to transition to a Mayor and his deputies directly elected by all the electors of Chandigarh for a period of five years with commensurate powers.
He had moved a Private Member’s Bill in the Lok Sabha last year to provide for a five-year term for the Mayor and his deputies, along with consequential powers to discharge their respective responsibilities.
