Three new BJP MLAs whose constituencies cover parts of the South
Dum Dum Municipality visited the civic body’s headquarters on Monday and met senior officials, including those handling finance and engineering.
The MLAs — Tarunjyoti Tiwari of Rajarhat-Gopalpur, Sharadwat Mukherjee of Bidhannagar and Arijit Bakshi of Dum Dum — went to the municipality’s office in Nagerbazar to raise concerns over illegal construction and corruption.
All 35 councillors of the South Dum Dum Municipality are from the Trinamool. The board’s five-year term is scheduled to continue till April 2027, said chairperson and Trinamool councillor Kasturi Chowdhury.
Chowdhury, who was present at the meeting, said: “Tiwari was supposed to meet me. But I had no knowledge that the other two BJP MLAs were also coming. Once they arrived, they bypassed me and went straight to the boardroom. They started talking to the executive officer and other officials there without my consent.”
BJP MLA Tiwari told Metro he had wanted to meet the executive officer, the senior-most state government official in a municipality. Besides the executive officer, the finance officer and the executive engineer were present at the meeting.
Tiwari said he warned officials against allowing illegal construction within the municipality.
“It is their responsibility as government officials to prevent any illegal construction. I told the executive officer that being government officials, they have to prevent corruption. Their responsibility is greater than that of any Trinamool councillor,” he said.
“I will ensure that any official involved in corruption is charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Tiwari added.
Eight of the municipality’s 35 wards fall under the Rajarhat-Gopalpur Assembly constituency, 17 under Dum Dum, and the remaining 10 under Bidhannagar.
Chairperson Chowdhury said that Monday’s meeting was organised without allowing time for other councillors to arrive.
“The BJP leaders asked the executive officer and other officials to come to the boardroom to meet them. I got to know about this from some officials and went to the boardroom,” she said, adding that she was the only councillor present at the meeting.
She said the three BJP MLAs assured the municipality of cooperation and support during the discussions.
The meeting came amid uncertainty over the future of Trinamool-run civic bodies. There are concerns that many municipal corporations and municipalities may not be allowed to complete their full five-year tenure.
Tiwari said he had also told the chairperson that civic services should not suffer.
“The councillors are not delivering civic services. I told the chairperson that they should start visiting the ward offices and should not turn the ward offices into party offices,” he said.