Asok offers experience sharing

TT, Siliguri, May 30: Mayor Asok Bhattacharya today said he was ready to help the Mamata Banerjee government execute projects and take decisions pertaining to municipal affairs and urban development by sharing his experience as a member of the Left Front Cabinet.

Bhattacharya is slated to take oath as Siliguri MLA in Calcutta tomorrow.

"I have sought the state government's co-operation (to run the Siliguri Municipal Corporation) and on my part, I am ready to share my experience with the government on matters related to municipal affairs and urban development. As I had said earlier, I would not raise objections for the sake of it," he told journalists here.

The mayor also said: "I am always ready to share my experience with representatives of the state government so that urban development can be done in a better and planned manner and civic services can be improved."

Bhattacharya was the minister for municipal affairs and urban development for four consecutive terms in the Left Front government till 2011. The department is now handled by Firhad Hakim of Trinamul.

"I have good relations with most of the ministers. Now that I have been elected as an MLA, I have the opportunity to meet them in the Assembly and speak on projects and matters related to Siliguri. I believe I will even get a chance to meet the chief minister to discuss these topics," added the mayor.

Observers said Bhattacharya was making overtures to the government after realising that the civic and rural bodies like the SMC and Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, run by the Left or the Congress, couldn't function properly unless the state extended a helping hand by approving projects and allocating funds.