UT slaps conduct code for SGPC polls till Sept 22

With the code of conduct in place,the councillors would not be able to get any new proposal passed or new work allotted and functions by political parties or inaugurations in wards would not be allowed. The city has one SGPC constituency and the code of conduct will remain in effect till September 22.

The Municipal Corporation elections are scheduled for December 18. The councillors,who were trying to save the best for the last,are now a worried lot. After the code of conduct for the SGPC elections gets over,the councillors would have just around a fortnight before the code of conduct for the Municipal elections comes into force.

Councillor Gurcharan Dass Kalaa said that while work was passed in the General House of the Municipal Corporation,not everything was allotted. “Around 80 per cent of the work has been approved but could not be allotted. There is no option but to wait for the code of conduct to end,” he pointed out.

The code of conduct for the SGPC polls is something that the councillors and even civic body officials had not foreseen. In fact,there was a sense of urgency among the councillors to get work in their respective areas approved.

Said Councillor Jatinder Bhatia,“Three greenbelts in my ward have been completed that I wanted to get allotted. These include the greenbelts in Sectors 47 and 31,as well as Industrial Area. The work on carpeting of roads,which has been approved but not yet allotted,would be stalled. We had hoped that after the monsoons,the roads would be carpeted.”

Another councillor opined that the code of conduct would put an end to the bickering over inaugurations that was being witnessed. The race to take credit for projects would have to end.