CHANDIGARH, Aug. 26 — The Municipal Corporation (MC) General House meeting scheduled for August 26 is expected to witness heated exchanges, with the Opposition preparing to corner the ruling BJP over corruption charges, financial troubles, and the city’s crumbling roads.
Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors held separate strategy sessions Sunday, while BJP councillors also met to chalk out countermeasures. AAP city unit president Vijaypal Singh said the party’s councillors will demand accountability for alleged irregularities in the civic body. “Every day, new corruption charges are emerging,” Singh noted, pointing to a video purportedly showing an enforcement wing employee exposing a systematic extortion racket. He also cited a “massive scam” in community centre bookings carried out under the guise of free weddings for economically weaker section (EWS) families.
The Congress, meanwhile, has decided to focus on deteriorating road conditions and persistent waterlogging. “The city roads are in a deplorable state, and residents are bearing the brunt,” city Congress president HS Lucky said after the party’s pre-House meeting.
Against this backdrop, the agenda of transferring all V3 (sector-dividing) roads to the UT Administration’s Engineering Department for upkeep is expected to spark major debate. The proposal had been unanimously rejected in an earlier House meeting but has been reintroduced by Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla, who insisted the move is “in the welfare of residents.” The civic body has been facing mounting criticism for failing to maintain roads, particularly since the onset of monsoon rains.
Other proposals on the agenda include recommending a committee for GIS-based mechanised and manual sweeping in southern sectors (31–56, 61 and 63, excluding Behlana). The House will also consider converting free parking spaces in Hallomajra, Ram Darbar, and behind Fun Republic, Manimajra into paid facilities for tourist buses.
Additionally, councillors are set to deliberate on assigning the operation and maintenance of the Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management Facility for five years, as well as finalising Indian Oil Corporation Limited as the agency for setting up a segregated organic municipal solid waste-based compressed biogas plant.
With the Opposition sharpening its attack on governance failures and corruption, and the ruling party gearing up to defend its record, the stage is set for a stormy House session.
