Bhagalpur Mayor Vasundhara Lal. file photo
Jagran correspondent, Bhagalpur. The scope of the war that broke out in the Municipal Corporation between Mayor Dr. Basundhara Lal and Ward 13 Councilor Ranjit Mandal increased on Thursday. Ranjeet has now taken Ward 51 councilor Pankaj Gupta under his control. He said that Pankaj, who earlier supported the labor related proposal, has now changed.
For this, his ward has benefited from a scheme worth crores. On the other hand, Pankaj has said that the issue of 107 labor pertains to the tenure before the formation of the present board. They still stand by their earlier stand on this issue. Ranjeet is making allegations without evidence. Here, the Mayor maintained silence on this issue for the time being. He said that whatever had to be said has been said on the first day.
Ranjit Mandal made serious allegations against the Mayor regarding the labor issue in the Municipal Corporation, the development fund of wards and the tender process and said that first the alleged scam related to 107 labor and the collection of holding tax that has been happening for the last three years should be answered.
There are talks of canceling his councilor membership. If a proposal to take any action against 1 to 51 councilors has been passed in the Standing Committee or General Board of the Municipal Corporation, then its certified copy should be made public. If this happens, he himself is ready to resign.
He told that in August 2023, 107 labor related proposals were placed in the Standing Committee, which all the members refused to pass. After this, many councilors in the General Board also boycotted this proposal. Councilor Pankaj Gupta had also protested. Now the benefit of the scheme of first Rs 1.10 crore and then Rs 50 lakh has been given in his ward.
According to Ranjit, development work in Ward 13 has been done with complete transparency and quality. In 2023, when a problem was detected in the boring of Pyu, re-boring was done using the sensor. For this reason, contractors who compromise on quality avoid tendering in their ward.
He alleged that some wards were given more funds than required, while many wards were discriminated against. All the facts will be revealed in the next meeting of the Municipal Corporation Board. They will present the documents related to their allegations before the media.
Also, the mayor's funeral procession will reach the corporation while touring the city. Two days later, they will also fast at the office of the Divisional Commissioner. Here, according to Councilor Pankaj Gupta, the issue of 107 labor is not of this tenure. He was in jail on the day the issue was placed before the board. If Ranjeet has evidence then file an FIR against the culprit.