Allegations and counter allegations: Bansal-Jain war of words hots up

Elaborating on this,Bansal said when he got elected in 2004,the response he got from the Administrator was not very encouraging and he (Rodrigues) started a campaign to ensure his defeat.

Hinting at support given to BJP by the Administrator during the elections,Bansal said that if BJP candidate Satya Pal Jain had “contested alone” against him,his (Jain’s) defeat margin might have been less.

Bansal had won the Lok Sabha elections defeating his nearest rival Satya Pal Jain by a margin of more than 58,000 votes. Jain and Bansal have faced each other in five elections. Of these Bansal has won thrice and Jain twice.

While Congress leaders have time and again levelled allegations against the

BJP for supporting the UT Administrator,it is the first time that the issue of “proxy elections” has been raised.

Congress councillors have launched attacks on the functioning of the Administration in the past as well.

A senior Congress leader remarked that the role of the Opposition that should have been played by the BJP was being played by them. Instead,the party chose to remain mum on the anomalies in the city.

Reacting to the allegations,Jain said,“With the win in the elections this time,Pawan Bansal seems to have become more arrogant and the power has gone into his head. The UT Administrator was appointed by the Congress-led UPA government. The local MP is a part of that government. Whenever UPA chief Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi visit the city they visit the Administrator. The allegations levelled by Bansal are false. He blames everyone but himself for all problems.”

Jain added it is clear that he does not enjoy any support from the Administrator as he was not even made a member of the Advisory Council.

“In the past five years,the city has seen no development due to ego clashes between the local MP and the UT Administrator.

The mega projects were announced and then stalled. Similar was the fate of the announcement made regarding amendments of building bye-laws,” said Jain.