Asok Bhattacharya and councillors of the Trinamul Congress and the BJP trade barbs If civic elections are announced next month, Friday’s would be the last meeting of the current board at the SMC

Bhattacharya addresses the SMC board meeting on Friday Picture by Passang Yolmo

TT, 29.02.20, Siliguri: The monthly board meeting of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation on Friday witnessed heated verbal exchanges between mayor Asok Bhattacharya and the councillors of the Trinamul Congress and the BJP.

If civic elections are announced next month, Friday’s would be the last meeting of the current board at the SMC which is run by the Left Front.

Addressing Trinamul councillor and Opposition leader Ranjan Sarkar, Bhattacharya said the ruling party of the state would never be able to form a board at the SMC. The mayor was also critical of the BJP and told the party’s both councillors, Khushboo Mittal and Malati Roy, that the citizenship matrix or “Delhi-like political activities” would not help them in Siliguri.

The problem began between the treasury benches and the opposition when Ranjan accused the Left board of denying the residents basic services.

“People had huge expectations from the mayor as he was also the state minister for the municipal affairs and urban development for 20 years. But lack of any development and the poor civic services left people disheartened,” he said.

In reply, the mayor said: “There were financial problems, particularly because the state didn’t give us funds. Even then, we completed the tenure of the board. You will never be able to come to power at the SMC.”

The Trinamul councillors erupted in protest. There was complete mayhem but chairman Dilip Singh managed to restore normality soon.

It was the turn of the BJP councillors then. They sarcastically thanked Bhattacharya for not providing them with a separate room at the SMC in the past five years.

“It is pity that though we had two councillors, we had to wander across the SMC office as we were not provided with a separate room. The sewerage system is in a shambles and so are roads,” said Mittal, the BJP councillor of ward VIII.

The civic board has also failed to clean the Mahananda river, the other BJP councillor alleged.

The mayor blamed the state government on the Mahananda issue.

“An issue like the CAA or the nature of politics that is being practised by your party in Delhi will not help you here. In Siliguri, such strategies will never work,” said Bhattacharya.

The BJP councillors countered by telling the mayor that “you too, can’t fool people any further”.

The meeting did not witness any walkout. It ended after a couple of hours.