Will amend law to elect Chandigarh mayor for five years, Jairam Ramesh
On a visit to the city to campaign for party candidate Manish Tewari, Ramesh said a mayor elected by 7 lakh voters of the city can exercise his strong authority to work for the welfare and developmental projects of the city, which were sometimes halted by the outdated governance model of the city and complicated web of laws
All India Congress Committee general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday strongly advocated for the law to be amended to elect the Chandigarh mayor through direct elections for five years.
On a visit to the city to campaign for party candidate Manish Tewari, Ramesh said a mayor elected by 7 lakh voters of the city can exercise his strong authority to work for the welfare and developmental projects of the city, which were sometimes halted by the outdated governance model of the city and complicated web of laws.
At present, the mayor is elected for a one-year term from among the elected councillors, with the post reserved for women councillors in the first and fourth terms, general category councillors in the second and fifth term, and for scheduled caste councillors in the third term. This arrangement is in keeping with the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, which has been extended to Chandigarh.
Ramesh said Chandigarh had lost its sheen and past glory after 10 years of BJP’s misrule, adding that Tewari was in serious consultation with civil society activists, leaders of resident welfare associations, opinion leaders and experts to arrive at a road map to restore the past glory of the city.
‘INDIA bloc govt will make city an IT hub’
He said the Congress tried to develop Chandigarh as an IT hub during Dr Manmohan Singh government but the process was negated after the change of government in 2014.
He assured that when the INDIA bloc government came to power after June 4, many national as well as multinational IT companies will be invited to set up business here, so that the youth of Chandigarh and nearby states were able to get lucrative employment near their homes. He said he could see no reason why Chandigarh could not be developed as an IT hub.
Ramesh recalled how he as the environment minister of India put his foot down and stalled a big multi-storey housing project near Sukhna Lake.
He said he was of the firm opinion that the housing project being constructed by a powerful company would have destroyed Sukhna Lake and later the high court also declined to resume construction there, endorsing the environment ministry’s view.
Speaking about Congress’ “Kisan Nyay guarantee”, he said after the INDIA bloc government took over in Delhi, legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) will be given and farm loans will be waived.
The Congress leader accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to communalise the elections after two phases. He lamented that whenever they talked about economic upliftment of the poor, the Prime Minister brought religion into the discourse. But he never addressed the real issues of the people.
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