Now, mayor will be peoples’ choice

JAIPUR: The see-saw battle between the Congress and the BJP over the direct and indirect elections for the post of mayor and chairperson of municipalities and corporations continues in the state.
After coming to power, the ruling Congress government in its first cabinet meeting on Saturday reversed the BJP’s 2014 decision on the mode of election of mayor of municipal corporations, chairpersons of municipalities from indirect to direct election.
Appreciating the decision, Jyoti Khandelwal, who became city’s first directly elected mayor, said, “It’s a democratic right of the people to choose their mayor and decision should not remain with councillors. As citizen could hold mayor directly responsible for actions, directly appointed mayors attempt to give maximum output,” she said.
Though many Congress supporters and residents are upbeat about the decision, few are apprehensive about the move as the experiment in 2009 failed. In 2009, for the first time in the history of the state, people directly elected their mayors and chairmen of municipal councils. “In Jaipur, a BJP board was formed, headed by a Congress mayor. The outcome was development work came to a standstill. After elected members turned volatile as differences between them widened and it made things difficult for the mayor to perform,” said a JMC official on the condition of anonymity.
The proposal for direct election of mayors and municipal chairmen was mooted by the BJP government in 2008, however, the Congress government later had removed many sections during framing the rules in 2009 that raised criticism.
“In 2009, the Congress government amended the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009, and removed Section 53 that allowed bringing no-confidence motion against the directly elected mayors/chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of municipal bodies after one year of their being in office,” said an official source. A senior government at DLB said “The state government would now prescribe the proposal in the amendment to the Act. Following the government directions the direct electing process can be followed.”
With intensions to give virtually a free-hand to the chairpersons and the mayors, the previous Congress government had made amendments to the Act. However, in the process, Congress mayors went on to win in Jaipur and Ajmer while BJP constituted the boards. This clogged every meeting and hence the breakdown in civic mechanism.
The BJP leaders also criticised for doing away education qualification to contest local bodies and sarpanch elections. BJP leader Suman Sharma, former Rajasthan Women's Commission Chairperson, said, “Doing away with education qualification shows how much importance Congress gives to educated leaders in the society. Moreover, it makes rules to benefit particular caste and communities,” she added.