Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, April 10
Former Cabinet minister Aruna Chaudhary has filed a complaint with the Punjab Chief Secretary and other senior officers claiming the AAP halqa incharge was openly meddling in the administrative and police affairs of her Dinanagar Assembly seat.
Meddling in official affairs
What is the use of holding polls when losing candidates are being given the liberty of managing official affairs? Aruna Chaudhary, Cong
The four-time Congress MLA had beaten AAP candidate Shamsher Singh in the recent elections. She said she failed to understand how a person beaten in the polls could be asked to preside over official meetings. “What is the use of holding elections when losing candidates are being given the liberty of managing official affairs? The voters delivered a mandate in my favour, not Shamsher’s. The AAP is making a mockery of the democratic norms and is engaging in political chicanery of the worst kind,” she averred. Shamsher recently visited the Dinanagar Municipal Committee where he held impromptu meetings and passed directions to the staff. “He also had the audacity to check official registers. So much so, he checked the attendance register and warned employees of action if they were found absent. He was doing what an MC executive officer is supposed to do,” said Aruna.
She added this was in violation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment. She has also asked the Principal Secretary (Local bodies) and the Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner to “immediately intervene and stop Shamsher from interfering in the affairs of the MC”.
Sources say her missive “will have absolutely no impact” because the ruling party has explicitly asked district-level police and administration officials to toe the line of halqa incharges.
Last week, Chaudhary attended a meeting of the Dorangla block samiti by virtue of being an ex officio member. Officers decided to boycott the meeting when they learnt she would be attending it. “Even the proceedings book was not shown to me,” she said.
Consequently, she sent an SMS to Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq and sought a reply on several queries. A week later, Chaudhary is still awaiting a reply.
Ex-minister Aruna Chaudhary files complaint against AAP halqa incharge
{$excerpt:n}
