Cong skips SMC meet

Siliguri, April 30: The Congress today abstained from the monthly board meeting of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, alleging that the session had been convened by the chairman without consulting the mayor. But a source in the Congress said the party had skipped the meeting as no projects could be proposed or taken up for discussion because of a state government order that asked the SMC commissioner to approve only bills on regular expenditure in the current financial quarter. The meeting couldn’t be held today because of lack of quorum. Along with Congress councillors, Left members also abstained from the meeting. “The chairman (Nantu paul) acted in a biased manner and fixed the meeting without consulting us. It is a clear violation of the convention followed at the corporation. That is why our 14 councillors have abstained from the meeting,” said Congress mayor Gangotri Datta. But a Congress councillor, who didn’t wish to be named, said: “As the state municipal affairs department on April 8 issued an order that confiscated the financial powers of the mayor, deputy mayor and the member mayor-in-councils, the board meeting was not of much relevance. The commissioner has been asked to exercise the financial powers under 16 heads that deal with regular expenditure. With our hands tied, how can we propose and implement projects?” When 12 of 15 Trinamul councillors reached the SMC conference hall this afternoon to attend the meeting, they found all chairs empty. The Left has 17 councillors who boycotted the meeting to protest Nantu Paul’s continuance as the chairman after he left the Congress and joined Trinamul