Kushal Sharmah

March 18: The Guwahati development department (GDD) today prevented the mayor from convening a meeting to discuss the budget for the next fiscal on the ground that the present incumbent has no right to take any major financial decision.

GDD commissioner A.K. Bhutani has served a letter to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) restricting mayor Kushal Sarmah from convening the meeting scheduled for March 21. Copies of the letter were sent to the GMC commissioner, the mayor and the deputy mayor.

The department took the decision in a general body meeting held on March 15.

Neither Sarmah nor Bhutani could be contacted for their comments. However, a source in the department said since Sarmah is the outgoing mayor, he does not have the right to take any financial decision. ?It will no doubt affect the ongoing development activities in the city, but the budget meeting cannot be convened till the new mayor takes charge,? he added.

Sarmah was asked by Dispur to continue after the declaration of election results, proclaiming the election of Nilakshi Talukdar as the mayor, were withheld by the high court, following a case challenging the government ordinance allowing ex-officio members to vote in the mayoral polls.

In another development, GMC officials said the councillors? decision to suspend the chief engineer of the corporation and ask the GMC commissioner to go on leave for two months was ?unconstitutional?.

The councillors had unanimously decided to suspend chief engineer in-charge Mridul Bezbora and ask GMC commissioner Archana Verma to go on leave for two months for alleged anomalies in awarding tenders in a desilting project during a recent meeting.

The councillors had held the meeting at Circuit House after the GMC employees? union prevented the councillors from holding the general body meeting on March 14 and allegedly manhandled the mayor. The employees were protesting against the alleged misbehaviour of some councillors with the commissioner in the mayor?s office during a meeting on March 11, which was convened by the mayor to discuss the desilting contracts.

A GMC source said Verma had extended the last date of submission of the tenders from March 7 to 10 upon request from some of the councillors. He said the quarrel started when Verma turned down their request to accept the rejected tenders, which did not meet the required conditions.

Official sources said according to the Municipal Act, the general body has no right to suspend or order any official of the corporation. It can only request the commissioner to take the decision or appeal in writing to Dispur.