Ludhiana MC House meeting turns stormy
High drama was witnessed at the first General House meeting of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC). The meeting turned stormy as the Mayor passed the Budget, while the Opposition raised slogans against the AAP government demanding zero hour, to which the Mayor refused. The Congress has now decided to submit a memorandum in this regard, while the Bharatiya Janata Party has termed the working of the MC House as a one-sided affair.
The Budget session saw protests by the Opposition parties, which resulted in an agitated debate. This was the first meeting of seventh General House of the MC, which was held after a gap of two years. The meeting was held at the MC Zone A office near Mata Rani Chowk on Thursday.
Recovery targets for 2025-26
Giving information about major sources of income, Mayor Inderjit Kaur said the annual recovery target for the property tax wing was fixed at Rs 160 crore. She said the recovery target for water-sewer charges had been fixed at Rs 60 crore. Similarly, the recovery target for the building branch was fixed at Rs 75 crore, while the civic body expected to receive Rs 680 crore as the GST share during the 2025-26 fiscal. Other sources of income include rent/lease, Tehbazari fee, advertisement tax and additional excise duty, she added.
Councillors not allowed to speak
"Everything was passed in a hush-hush manner. What was the need of holding a meeting, when councillors were not allowed to speak. I came to know that instead of Mayor, it was the MLAs who were addressing participants at the meeting. We will be submitting a memorandum with the Local Bodies Minister to get this meeting declared null and void."
Sanjay Talwar, District Congress chief
Protests politically motivated
"Protests by the Opposition were politically motivated and baseless. We want to work harmoniously for the development of the entire city, but the Opposition parties are unnecessarily creating disruptions."
Inderjit Kaur, Mayor, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation
Murder of democracy
"This is murder of democracy. Very important Budget meeting was held today. Budget was passed within a few minutes. Hopes of newly elected councillors were dashed to the ground as they were not able to speak about anything for the area from which they were elected. The AAP is just passing the Tughlaqi farman." Rajneesh Dhiman, District BJP chief
Before commencement of the meeting, a two-minute silence was observed in memory of Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi, Deputy Mayor Prince Johar’s father Raj Kumar Johar and Ward No. 8 councillor Raj Kumar, who passed away earlier this year. As the Opposition was demanding zero hour, Mayor and AAP MLAs clearly said only Budget would be passed during this meeting. They said one member from each party would be given a chance to speak, but as ruckus increased in the House, Mayor passed the Budget before discussion and dismissed the meeting.
Reacting to the development, the Opposition started protesting and sat on dharna, while alleging that Mayor passed the Budget without discussion, which was entirely wrong. Leader of the Opposition, Sham Sundar Malhotra from the Congress and others tried blocking the door, while not letting Mayor leave the office.
The annual Budget of approximately Rs 1,100 crore for 2025-26 fiscal was passed out of which Rs 400 crore was allocated for development in the city. After passing the Budget, Mayor Inderjit Kaur said all aspects had been covered. She said it was a comprehensive Budget with focus on development of the entire city. An amount of Rs 400 crore had been allocated for taking up development works in the city, including reconstruction/repair of roads, installation of water-sewer lines, purchase and maintenance of streetlights and maintenance of parks, she said.
