AAP holds open house debate on civic issues ahead of MC poll

In a novel way of electioneering, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held an open house debate on civic issues and invited all opposition parties to participate in it at Mullanpur Dakha near here on Tuesday.

While no other party leader turned up, AAP halqa in-charge Dr Kanwal Nain Singh Kang initiated and conducted the debate in the presence of the party’s candidates for all 13 wards of the Mullanpur Dakha Municipal Council (MC) going to poll on December 21.

“Pulling the local MC out of the fiscal mess, we have ensured a huge tax collection of Rs 18 crore in the past couple of years ever since our government was formed in the state,” Dr Kang said.

He said all political parties and residents of the city were extended an open invitation for a discussion on the city’s development. Issues of the city were openly deliberated but no representative from any other political party attended it.

During the event, Dr Kang responded to residents’ questions and assured them that after the elections of the new MC House, development works would be carried out swiftly.

He emphasised that anyone attempting to disrupt city’s peace would face legal action.

Dr Kang said after the AAP government came to power, sanitation workers, who were earlier assigned to the homes of the officers and leaders, were sent back to their actual duties across various wards in Mullanpur Dakha.

“Full attention was given to the city’s cleanliness. Two garbage collection trucks and 100 dustbins were procured under the CSR initiative, which helped Mullanpur Dakha bagging the President’s Award for being the cleanest city of its population category in North India recently”, he added.

To address sewage issues, a de-choking machine worth over Rs 60 lakh was procured, significantly resolving the problem. Two mohalla (community) clinics were established. For the civic body, a tractor, two trailers, 10 rickshaws, carts, and a drinking water tanker were purchased.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann allocated a grant of Rs 4.9 crore for Mullanpur Dakha, of which, Rs 1.35 crore was spent on paving streets, and Rs 3.3 crore was approved for sewage system. “The MC now generates an annual income of Rs 30 lakh from hoardings”, the AAP leader said.

He said a clean drinking water project worth over Rs 5 crore has been approved, under which canal water will be purified and supplied to the city. “The collection of building fees and CLU charges, which amounted to Rs 32 lakh in 2021-22, has touched Rs 15 crore between 2022 and 2024 while the property tax collections have risen from Rs 42 lakh in 2021-22 to Rs 73 lakh,” Dr Kang revealed, adding that it had helped the MC to spend on development works. Tenders worth Rs 3.75 crore had been floated for various development projects in the city.