JMC board rejects budget proposals

JAIPUR: 'Naam Jyoti, Kaam Andhera' (The mayor does opposite what her name suggests) and many such sloganeering by both the Congress and BJP councillors against each other throughout the budget speech of mayor Jyoti Khandelwal in the Council Bhawan on Tuesday marked the proceedings.
Amid chaos, confusion and muscle flexing by individual members from both side of the spectrum, Khandelwal called for the division of votes and unlike the first Sadharan Sabha meeting on January 13, the mayor finally informed the House that the budget provisions for the fiscal 2010-11 stands rejected by the Board.Moreover, the chair had to adjourn the House late in the evening amid marshals taking over the unruly members inside the House.
The proceedings started on a ominous note at 11 am as four independent councillors sat on the floor and demanded a separate seating arrangements for them. The issue after half an hour was resolved only to be taken over by several ugly scenes inside the House, including use of expletives and manhandling.
However, to set the House in order, the mayor adjourned it twice before the lunch break. However, it failed to calm down the members who shouted at their lungs out at each other often casting aspersions on individual members, including on former mayors like Ashok Parnami and Mohanlal Gupta who were present by virtue of being ex-officio members and city MLA.
Meanwhile, the BJP stuck to its position that first the agenda of constituting the committee should be taken up for the discussion as per the high court order. On the contrary, the Congress wanted discussion on the budget which angered most of the BJP councillors who enjoyed majority with 47 member in the 77-member board. What added fuel in the fire was the categorical remarks against the mayor by both ex-mayors and MLAs Ashok Parnami and Mohanlal Gupta that the HC has penalised the JMC, mayor and the CEO and found the mayor guilty of not functioning in a democratic manner.
No sooner, the Congress members rushed to the well of the House in support of the mayor and the House slipped into chaos with BJP members throwing away the mikes of the mayor and tearing the budget speech and tossing them in air. Marshals have to be called in to dissuade the members from fighting.
How well attended was the BJP bandwagon could be seen from the fact that MLAs Kalicharan Saraf, Mohanlal Gupta, Ghanshyam Tiwary, Ashok Parnami who sat through the day. On the other hand, from the Congress, MP Mahesh Joshi and MLA Pratap Singh Khachariawas stood for the mayor.