Ludhiana: AAP under fire as Oppn decries ‘opaque' development plans

Hindustan Times

08-05-2025

Ludhiana's municipal corporation (MC) is bracing for a fiery showdown as accusations of opaque governance and procedural breaches ignite ahead of Friday's General House meeting. BJP and Congress councillors are decrying the AAP-led civic body's alleged concealment of over 1,000 development agendas, passed in recent Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) sessions. The contentious issue centres on the claim that these agendas, heavily skewed towards the West constituency, were not shared with all elected representatives, sparking allegations of favouritism and a deliberate disregard for democratic norms.
The opposition has slammed the administration for not providing copies of the passed agendas to all elected councillors, as mandated under existing bylaws. They stated that only few of the agendas were highlighted during the last general house meeting. BJP and Congress leaders have alleged that this lack of transparency undermines the democratic process and raises suspicions of preferential treatment being given to certain areas.
'There is a law that mandates that every councillor should be given a copy of each agenda passed in the F&CC and TAC meetings. So far, we haven't received even a single copy. If this continues, we will be forced to protest outside the House,' said Shyam Sunder Malhotra, Congress councillor and leader of the Opposition. He warned that the party would not stay silent if the administration continued to push agendas without proper disclosure and discussion.
Echoing the sentiment, BJP councillor Rohit Sikka expressed concern over the lopsided nature of the development plans. 'More than 1,000 development agendas have been approved in just three F&CC meetings, most of which relate to the West constituency. This shows a clear bias and lack of balanced planning. Number of agendas are still not provided to the councillors,' he said. He also criticised the civic body for sidelining councillors by withholding important information and moving forward without consensus.
Senior leaders from both parties have called out the AAP government for what they describe as 'selective governance' and have demanded that the municipal commissioner provide complete details of all approved agendas. They argue that the manner in which supplementary items are being pushed ahead of today's General House meeting reflects a deeper governance failure and an unwillingness to engage with elected representatives.
In response to the mounting criticism, mayor Inderjit Kaur defended the administration's stance, stating that hard copies of the passed agendas had already been handed over to the leader of the Opposition, while digital copies were shared with all councillors.
However, the opposition remains unconvinced. With the General House meeting set to take place a Friday, a stormy session is expected, as councillors prepare to grill the administration on alleged procedural lapses and imbalanced development.
Meanwhile, the local Congress unit on Thursday held a meeting for the agenda to be discussed during the House meeting on Friday.