All Parties Back Move To Declare Last Month’s Table Agendas Null And Void; Opposition Terms It A VictoryChandigarh: The municipal corporation’s general house Thursday unanimously declared all table agenda items approved during the previous house meeting null and void, reopening several proposals worth hundreds of crores of rupees, including the contentious Rs 227.7 crore Kajauli-Chandigarh pipeline replacement project.Councillors from the BJP, AAP and Congress supported the move, with the proposal being passed through a show of hands and formally recorded in the house proceedings.While some Congress councillors questioned the provisions under which already approved agenda items could be nullified, the mayor and municipal commissioner maintained that the house was empowered to take such a decision. To ensure procedural compliance, the matter was put to vote before councillors.With the decision, all table agenda items cleared during the previous house meeting will now be placed before the Sept house meeting for fresh discussion and approval.The move assumes significance as the Rs 227.7 crore pipeline replacement project had become the centre of a political controversy after it was approved without discussion in the previous meeting. Opposition councillors had since been demanding that the approvals be withdrawn and reconsidered.AAP and Congress councillors described Thursday’s decision as a victory, arguing that important proposals involving public funds should not be approved without debate in the house.The issue also triggered a political slugfest during the meeting, with opposition councillors alleging that key decisions concerning the municipal corporation were being taken outside the house. Referring to a BJP core committee meeting held Wednesday, where party leaders reportedly discussed the issue, opposition councillors raised slogans asserting that civic matters should be decided in the MC house and not at a political party office.AAP Stages Protest Over WaterloggingThe Chandigarh unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged a protest outside the MC office Thursday over severe waterlogging, the city’s drainage system and the condition of roads.AAP councillors and party leaders brought a boat to the protest venue, symbolically highlighting the flooding witnessed in several parts of the city after recent rainfall.The party questioned the BJP’s governance record, asking where taxpayers’ money had been spent despite the party’s long control over the city’s civic administration.AAP leaders alleged that the latest spell of rain had exposed gaps in Chandigarh’s drainage infrastructure and monsoon preparedness, with roads inundated, traffic snarled for hours and several vehicles damaged after being stranded in flooded stretches.
