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Hindustan Times
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Dirty credit war erupts over Chandigarh's podium finish in cleanliness survey
To celebrate Chandigarh's impressive second-place finish in the Swachh Survekshan 2024 rankings, city mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla hosted a warm, all-party tea gathering on Friday to acknowledge the civic body's efforts toward improved cleanliness. While BJP councillors and nominated councillors attended the tea party hosted by Chandigarh mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla on Friday, AAP and Congress councillors boycotted the event. (HT Photo) But the tea party turned cold, and political, with AAP and Congress councillors giving the event a miss, accusing the BJP-led civic body and mayor Babla of taking credit for groundwork laid under previous AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor. While BJP councillors and nominated members sipped tea and lauded the city's progress under the current leadership, the opposition poured scorn on the celebration. In an official statement, AAP said, 'When city roads are broken, areas are waterlogged, people are drinking unsafe water and toxic leachate from Dadumajra is entering residential areas, holding celebrations is 'an insult to public pain'. When citizens are struggling…AAP chooses to stand with the people, not with those hosting hollow celebrations.' Credit should go to AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor: Oppn The party said it was under AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor that Chandigarh was ranked the best and now, a BJP mayor was wrongly claiming credit for it. Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi echoed the sentiment, stating that mayor Babla should have invited former mayor Dhalor to the Delhi award ceremony. He added, 'Chandigarh has also been put under 'small cities' category by the Union government, which is just eyewash. Besides this, BJP should first focus on solving people's grievances instead of celebrating. City roads are in poor state and infrastructure is depleting with MC crying for funds, but the mayor is focusing on celebrations.' Mayor Babla, however, said the event was a sincere attempt to celebrate the city's collective achievement in cleanliness. She extended heartfelt congratulations to the city's sanitation workers, officials and citizens, crediting their unified efforts for this national recognition. She said, 'Looking ahead to Swachh Survekshan 2025, the meeting focused on crafting a robust strategy to elevate Chandigarh's cleanliness standards even further. Key action points were discussed including intensive cleaning drives in backlanes and inner colonies; enhanced door-to-door waste collection mechanisms; strengthened monitoring of public spaces and waste hotspots; citizen awareness campaigns and feedback initiatives; and collaboration with RWAs, schools, and market bodies for grassroots engagement.' 'I urge councillors to lead by example in their wards by spearheading cleanliness awareness campaigns and encouraging public participation in the city's sanitation efforts,' Babla said.
Hindustan Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: Power bills to shoot up as UT okays hike in MC cess
In some relief for the fund-strapped Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC), the UT administration on Monday approved a 6 paise per unit hike in electricity tax/cess, which will now mean an increased power bill for city residents. The Chandigarh MC has been earning a revenue of approximately ₹ 15-16 crore per annum at the existing rates and with the increase in rate of cess, the revenue under this head will climb to approximately ₹ 22-23 crore. (HT File) The proposal, initially withdrawn by former AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor in November last year, was recently greenlit by the BJP-led House in March, with minimal objections from both ruling and Opposition parties. In a letter addressed to the UT administration, MC officials had in April outlined the necessity of the hike. 'During weekly meetings to review the financial position of the MC, emphasis was laid on enhancing internally generated revenue and curtailing unnecessary expenditures to improve the financial health of the corporation, which is currently passing through a difficult time. Accordingly, a proposal to increase the existing municipal/ electricity cess from ₹ 0.10 per unit to ₹ 0.16 per unit was placed in the General House meeting on March 25. After detailed deliberations, the proposal was duly approved by the House.' The MC has been earning a revenue of approximately ₹ 15-16 crore per annum at the existing rates and with the increase in rate of cess, the revenue under this head will climb to approximately ₹ 22-23 crore. MC to get ₹ 1,000 for every 4-wheeler registration Besides, the secretary of local bodies department of the UT administration also approved ₹ 1,000 for MC, from every four-wheeler registration, sold within MC limits. Earlier, ₹ 500 was being charged by the RLA, which was later transferred to MC in the 'cow cess' head. This comes at a time when the city's infrastructure has taken a severe hit – broken roads, damaged footpaths, neglected parks and poorly maintained public toilets, as the MC continues to grapple with a fund crunch. Needless to say, UT residents are facing the brunt of it. Despite the UT administration releasing annual grants-in-aid periodically, the funds remain insufficient to initiate new projects. Since May last year, no fresh tenders have been floated, effectively bringing the city's growth to a standstill. Essential projects, including re-carpeting of roads, renovation of community centres, improvement of public toilets and cremation grounds, and beautification of markets, have all been stalled.
Hindustan Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘Show of hands' to pick Chandigarh mayor in 2026
The Chandigarh mayoral elections in 2026 will be conducted through a show of hands instead of secret ballots—a significant change prompted by the vote-rigging scandal from 2024 polls, and persistent demands from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress for a greater transparency in the electoral process. In February, UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria had directed the Deputy Commissioner's office to draft an amendment in applicable law to allow voting by a show of hands instead of the previous system of secret ballots. Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said the proposal for amendment in Punjab Municipal Act was ready and will be sent to the UT administrator for final approval. 'The amendment is aimed at preventing recurring issues of cross-voting and vote tampering. In the mayoral elections scheduled for January 2026, councillors will vote by raising their hands instead of using secret ballots,' he added. The administration aims to complete the process by June, after which a public notice will be issued to invite suggestions and objections from city residents. Based on the feedback, a final notification will be issued. Since the establishment of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation in 1996, mayoral elections have been conducted through secret ballots. In the 2024 mayoral elections, then presiding officer Anil Masih, a nominated municipal councillor, was caught on camera invalidating eight votes cast in favour of AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, in an apparent attempt to secure victory for BJP's Manoj Sonkar. The brazen vote-rigging earned Masih the wrath of the Supreme Court, which termed it a 'murder of democracy'. Overturning the results, the top court declared Dhalor the winner, giving Chandigarh its first non-BJP, non-Congress mayor. The incident sparked nationwide outrage and damaged the BJP's credibility, as reflected in the subsequent Lok Sabha election results. During its meeting in October 2024, led by then mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, the MC House passed a resolution proposing that future elections be conducted through a show of hands instead of secret ballots. Before the 2025 polls, in January, Dhalor filed a petition before the Supreme Court to replace the secret ballot system with open voting to ensure fairness. However, the Supreme Court refused to intervene and left the decision to the administration. The shift to an open voting system will benefit the party with the highest number of councillors, as any councillor wishing to vote for an opposition candidate will have to do so publicly. This will enable political parties to take disciplinary action against councillors who defy party lines. In the 2025 elections, the BJP secured the mayoral position through cross-voting, gaining three opposition votes from AAP and Congress councillors. However, with the new system, such manipulations will become difficult, as councillors will be required to publicly raise their hands to cast votes—similar to how resolutions on development projects and other issues are passed in the House. The mayoral elections are conducted by the Deputy Commissioner's office. Notably, Chandigarh currently lacks an anti-defection law, which allows councillors to switch parties before elections. As a result, party-switching among councillors has been a recurring issue before every election.
