JOIN USAmid protests by the opposition Congress, the ruling BJP passed a resolution in the BBMP Council on Monday against the State government’s show-cause notice on why the civic agency should not be superseded.
A special meeting of the BBMP Council was convened to discuss the show-cause notice issued by the government to Mayor N Shanthakumari, BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana, chairpersons and members of the BBMP’s 12 standing committees and the corporators. Monday was the last day to reply to the notice.
The ruling BJP and the JD(S) described the grounds cited by the government as “too flimsy”. BJP leader in the Palike Council, N R Ramesh, maintained that the notice, issued on the basis of Rajendra Kumar Kataria Committee report on the poor administration of the Palike, was “flawed” as the report itself had shortcomings.
“The committee didn’t record the statements of officials, employees or even the elected representatives. The report is not substantiated by hard evidence. Rather, it relies on some newspaper reports and the TVCC (Technical and Vigilance Committee under Commissioner) report,” Ramesh argued.
But leader of the opposition Congress in the Council, B N Manjunath Reddy, defended the show-cause notice, saying the BBMP’s financial condition had worsened since 2007. There is a leakage of advertisement revenue and property tax revenue, Akrama-Sakrama has not yet been implemented whereas there were large-scale irregularities in the transportation of garbage, he noted.
“As per TVCC report, tonnes of garbage was transported by two-wheelers, which is simply not possible. The CAG report too had pointed to the large-scale duplication of works. In view of these loopholes, the government moved ahead to supersede the BBMP,” Reddy said.
JD(S) leader in the Council, R Prakash, questioned the government’s intention to supersede the BBMP.