SAD-BJP mayors upset over not getting a date with Sidhu

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I even made a call to Sidhu’s office and told them that we want to meet the minister, but received no response.

ANIL VASUDEVA, Punjab State Council of Mayors general secretary Mayors are running corporations and Sidhu should hold a meeting to let us know how he expects us to work. SUNIL JYOTI,

Jalandhar mayor

JALANDHAR: The state Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) mayors’ attempt to meet the new local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has received a cold shoulder, with the former still waiting for a reply.

After Sidhu assumed the position of local bodies minister, the Punjab State Council of Mayors with congratulatory note had asked the minister for a suitable time for a meeting.

The letter dates March 20, just three days after Sidhu became a cabinet minister.

“The council extends best wishes for a successful tenure and hopes that the department will flourish under your stewardship,” read the letter addressed to the minister.

“Punjab State Council of Mayors would personally like to felicitate you. Kindly grant suitable time for the for meeting in Chandigarh at your office,” it further adds.

In last three months, Sidhu has not held a single meeting or visited any municipal corporation of the state.

Punjab State Council of Mayors (PSCM) comprises mayors of 10 municipal corporations of the state and that of the union territory. Pathankot mayor and general secretary PSCM Anil Vasudeva said, “I even called up the local bodies office to remind about the proposal but received no response.”

All the major central and state government funded project lie pending with the cash -starved municipal corporation who have no option but to wait for the state government to re-start the project.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had stalled the fund release for projects under Urban Rural Regeneration Mission, that are started or yet to be started, in April. “Even though four municipal corporations will conduct elections in August, the government still has to work with the existing fours civic bodies(Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Moga and Mohali) for another three years. Confrontation se kisi ka kaam nahi chalta (confrontation will not help anyone),” said Jalandhar mayor Sunil Jyoti.

“Mayors are running the corporations and the local bodies minister should definitely hold a meeting to let us know how he expects us to work,” Jyoti added.

Despite repeated attempts, Navjot Singh Sidhu could not be reached for comments.