Last Jalandhar MC meet ends on stormy note over LED issue

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, January 18

‘Chuppi apni tod de sajna, kuch taan muho bolde sajna’ Congress councillor Shamesher Khehra concluded his remarks in a poetic way and asked Mayor Jagdish Raja to at least say something regarding the action that he would take against those involved in the alleged LED scam. The mayor then said that the House would ask the Vigilance Bureau to conduct an inquiry into the alleged scam. It was again just a meeting without any new facts.

MC Commissioner Abhijeet Kaplish said the Punjab Government would be requested to file a chargesheet against those who would be found guilty in the alleged scam. The commissioner also sent a show-cause notice to MC officials who failed to make a proper report for today’s meeting.

He also said he was not protecting any officer. “We will take requisite action,” he stressed in the meeting.

During the meeting, members questioned the Commissioner why only meetings were being held and there were no talks regarding the action taken. The councillors alleged the Commissioner just wanted to linger on the issue.

“Ajj di meeting mazak hai’, Tusi sada dil tod ditta hai’, this is how they protested. To this, the commissioner replied and said he had no interest in lingering on this issue.

The councillors asked the officials to tell them where the lights were installed in their wards and who was coming to mark the poles as they had no idea. When the official concerned started talking regarding Ward No.24 on the number of poles that were marked, the councillor of the same ward stood up and said there was no ‘truth’ behind the claim and that the actual figure was completely different from what he (official) was saying. “Tuhadi te hune sachayi saamne aa gayi’, he told the official.

House to seek vigilance probe

• After being constantly prodded and questioned over the action taken in the alleged LED scam, Mayor Jagdish Raja said the House would ask the Vigilance Bureau to conduct an inquiry
• MC Commissioner Abhijeet Kaplish, who too found himself at the receiving end, said the Punjab Government would be requested to file a chargesheet against those who would be found guilty in the alleged LED scam

‘When streets will be lit?’

Every councillor who was present in the meeting asked the Mayor and the commissioner what will be done to end the blackout in the city. “No streetlights are working. Residents don’t care about the inquiry, they just want their areas to be lit,” the councillors told the Mayor.