Heated altercation between the Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner in the Municipal Corporation meeting, officers boycotted

Kanpur. The ongoing dispute between Mayor Pramila Pandey and Municipal Commissioner Arpit Upadhyay in Kanpur Municipal Corporation of Uttar Pradesh once again came to the fore on Wednesday. An uproar started in the Municipal Corporation Executive Committee meeting when the Mayor arrived with two advocates along with her. The Municipal Commissioner expressed strong objection to the presence of lawyers in the meeting. As the argument between the two escalated, the Municipal Commissioner left the meeting. Following him, other Municipal Corporation officials also left the auditorium. Due to this, the executive meeting ended in just 15 minutes without any decision. After the incident, angry councilors raised slogans against the Municipal Commissioner and sat on a dharna. The Mayor has said that he will complain about the entire matter to the government.

Controversy started when two lawyers arrived with the mayor

A meeting of the Executive Committee was called on Wednesday, October 28 at the Kanpur Municipal Corporation headquarters. The meeting started at around 2:15 pm.

During this, Mayor Pramila Pandey reached the meeting room taking advocates Mohammad Javed and Rishabh Awasthi with her.

Both the advocates sat near the mayor. Municipal Commissioner Arpit Upadhyay objected to this and raised the question on what basis outsiders have been made to sit in the executive meeting.

The Mayor replied that many important administrative and legal issues were to be discussed in the meeting. That’s why she has brought lawyers to seek legal advice.

A heated argument started between the two on this matter.

Municipal Commissioner said – I will not answer to outsiders

During the meeting, Municipal Commissioner Arpit Upadhyay clarified that only the Mayor, elected members and authorized officers of the Municipal Corporation attend the meeting of the Executive Committee.

He said that he is not bound to answer to any outsider on departmental matters.

On this, the Mayor cited Section 117 of the Municipal Corporation Act and said that she can call lawyers for legal advice.

The Mayor also informed that advocate Rishabh Awasthi is associated with the legal panel of the Municipal Corporation.

However, the Municipal Commissioner persisted in his objection. He said that he will answer only as per the rules.

After this the Municipal Commissioner got up from his chair and went out of the meeting room.

As soon as the Municipal Commissioner left, all the officers also came out.

After the Municipal Commissioner left the meeting, other Municipal Corporation officials also left the auditorium one by one.

The proceedings of the meeting were disrupted due to the sudden departure of the officials. Resentment spread among the executive members.

The councilors present in the meeting protested, calling it neglect of the elected representatives.

Given the situation, the meeting could not proceed further and was ended in about 15 minutes.

During this time, an atmosphere of commotion was created in the Municipal Corporation premises. Keeping in view the security arrangements, police also reached the spot.

However, no violent incident has been confirmed.

Angry councilors demonstrated and raised slogans

Angered by the Municipal Commissioner and officials leaving the meeting, the councilors sat on a dharna in the Municipal Corporation premises.

The councilors raised slogans against the Municipal Commissioner and raised questions on his functioning.

Councilors from various parties associated with the executive participated in the protest.

The councilors said that the meeting was called to discuss important proposals related to the development of the city and civic amenities, but no decision could be taken due to the departure of the officials.

After protesting for about ten minutes, the councilors ended the protest.

This incident once again brought to the fore the ongoing differences between the municipal administration and the elected representatives.

Mayor Pramila Pandey warned of complaining to the government

After the meeting ended, Mayor Pramila Pandey, while talking to journalists, expressed her displeasure over the functioning of the Municipal Commissioner.

The Mayor said that he did not have detailed knowledge of all the legal provisions. That’s why she brought lawyers to the meeting to get legal opinion.

He claimed that a letter had already been sent to the Municipal Commissioner regarding the inclusion of advocates.

According to the Mayor, if the Municipal Commissioner had any objection to the presence of the advocates, he could have been informed about it earlier.

She said that she will take this matter to the government and the Department of Personnel and Training.

The Mayor also alleged that required action is not being taken by the officials on some decisions of the Executive and the House.

However, the Municipal Commissioner, on his part, has clarified that sharing departmental information with unauthorized persons is not in accordance with the rules.

Controversy already going on regarding garbage collection and Mangal Bhawan Committee

The dispute between the Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner is not limited to just seating the lawyers in the meeting.

There are already differences between the two regarding the cleanliness system of the city, committees of Mangal Bhawan and economic matters related to smart city.

The executive members wanted to discuss the tender for door-to-door garbage collection and the decision to hand over the sanitation system to private hands.

Apart from this, the issue of repeal of the old committee of Mangal Bhawan and the issue of Municipal Corporation’s share in the income of the Convention Center located in Chuniganj was also included in the agenda of the meeting.

A proposal was also to be made to make public the details of works sanctioned from Municipal Corporation funds, tender process, budget allocation and expenditure.

But due to controversy as soon as the meeting started, no concrete decision could be taken on these issues.

Executive meeting remained inconclusive for the fourth time in October

Continuous executive meetings in Kanpur Municipal Corporation without any