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| The Opposition members protest against dissolution of the general council of the GMC. File picture |
March 13 : The Opposition has slammed the Tarun Gogoi government for “violating laid-down provisions” which makes it mandatory to hold civic polls within six months of dissolution of the council body of the municipality.
Former BJP councillor Gopal Patowary on Tuesday said the Congress government had “violated” the constitutional provision by which elections to municipalities should be held before the expiry of a period of six months from the date of dissolution of the general council.
“In case of the GMC, the period of six months expired on November 26, 2008 and the state government violated the Constitutional provision by not holding the poll during this period,” Patowary said.
The state government had dissolved the general council of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) under Section 425 (1) of the GMC Act, 1971 (amended) through an official order dated May 26, 2008.
He also cited a Supreme Court ruling of October, 2006 which stated that no reason other than man-made calamities like riots and breakdown of law and order or natural calamities were tenable for not holding civic elections on time.
Patowary said the former GMC councillors of the Opposition AGP and BJP, besides a few Independents, would meet shortly to discuss this issue and chalk out a course of action. He said the Opposition is likely to move court highlighting the “violation” of the Constitution and legal provisions related to civic polls by the state government.
Echoing him, former AGP councillor Prabhat Das said the Congress government in Dispur had always shown scant regard for the rule of law. “It is unfortunate that there are no ward councillors, who are elected representatives of the citizens, in Guwahati to raise the civic problems of the people since the council body was dissolved in May last year. As a result, development work in many municipal wards has taken a back seat,” Das said.
When contacted, chief administrator of GMC Robin Bordoloi declined to comment on the allegations of the Opposition. Bordoloi said he would have to look into various legal aspects related to this matter before making any comment.
An official of the Guwahati development department (GDD) said there were “legal hurdles” in holding municipal polls.
“After the GMC general council was dissolved, an Opposition councillor moved Gauhati High Court and the case is still sub-judice before a division bench. Therefore, the state government is treading carefully on this issue,” the GDD source said.
Rejecting this argument, the Opposition claimed that a constitutional mandate was “greater than both the judiciary and the legislature,” and there should not be any legal hassles in holding municipal polls on time.
When contacted, GMC commissioner Manish Thakur said he was yet to receive any formal communication from the state government regarding municipal elections.
“But as far my knowledge goes, the state government is seriously thinking about it and preliminary work such as delimitation of wards are in progress,” Thakur said.
“At this moment I can only say that the municipal elections will be held after Lok Sabha polls but I am not yet aware when exactly the government will hold the election,” the GMC commissioner said.
Speculation, however, is rife that Dispur is planning to hold these elections by the end of this year.
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