Patna, Oct. 4: The tussle between executive officials and elected representatives in Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) does not seem to end with a truce with the replacement of the civic body chief.

Two days after an IAS officer, Pankaj Kumar Pal, took charge as PMC commissioner, councillors of the civic body are still resenting, said sources. The matter has also been taken up with the chief secretary of the state.

According to sources in the civic body, the elected representatives of the PMC, who had been demanding ouster of the previous PMC commissioner Divesh Sehara, are now complaining over the fact that the empowered standing committee was not taken into confidence prior to the appointment of Pal as the new PMC chief.

“We have written a letter to the chief secretary and urban development department principal secretary in this regard. A few days back, we had also filed a case against the state government over the issue and a notice was sent to them. As per Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, the corporation commissioner should be appointed only after taking recommendations from the empowered standing committee. However, it never happens,” said PMC mayor Afzal Imam.

He added that he had no personal grudge against the present commissioner. “If the commissioner functions in a proper manner with a view to benefit the masses and has regard for democracy in the civic body, we have nothing against him. It is the attitude of the government, which worries us more. They are promoting bureaucracy and bureaucrats to an extent that it is hampering works in the corporation and elsewhere,” Imam said.

The councillors’ relation with Sehara was strained ever since he took charge as the civic body chief in February this year. They accused Sehara of high-handedness and arbitrary attitude and had also been alleging that he deliberately delayed work and was not interested in carrying out tasks of large public interest.

The tussle between PMC chief and elected representatives had hit an all-time-low last month when Sehara walked out of the corporation board meeting hall, charging councillors of misbehaving with him.

The ugly situation arose after councillor Baleshwar Singh, who represents ward number 18, demanded to know why Sehara was delaying the release of Rs 15 lakh each in all 72 wards of the city from ward development funds. This had led to a heated argument between the duo.

The agitated councillors had later demanded disciplinary action against the commissioner, saying he was making fun of democracy in the urban local body.

Earlier, the councillors had even passed a resolution with a two-thirds majority to remove Sehara from the chair.

The recommendation was, however, turned down by the state government on the grounds that the board cannot pass such a resolution before the commissioner completes a year in the chair according to a recent amendment in Bihar Municipal Act.