The first major decision of the Congress Mayor drew flak from the Opposition and nominated councillors who alleged that he failed to strike balance in the formation of the committees. Dr A P Sanwaria, a nominated councillor, even tendered his resignation from a sub-committee in protest.

As Congress councillors largely dominate most of the sub-committees, the Opposition and some nominated councillors cried foul. They demanded that the Mayor should justify his decision of including majority of the Congress councillors in each committee.

Sanwaria, after finding his name figuring in the House Tax Assessment Committee instead of the Health and Sanitation Committee, resigned from a sub-committee in protest.

In his letter written to the Mayor, a copy of which has also been sent to Municipal Commissioner R K Rio, Sanwaria has stated that UT Administrator Gen S F Rodrigues (retd) has nominated him as a councillor on the basis of his experience so that he could contribute towards the development of the people of Chandigarh.

“But due to political compulsion, your (Mayor’s) office has not been able to harness the same and henceforth I submit my resignation from the sub-committee (House Tax Assessment Committee), of which I have least experience, with immediate effect to pave way for more experienced replacement,” said the letter duly signed by Sanwaria. He said members should have been inducted into the committees on the basis of their expertise and not political affiliations.

Nominated councillor Pallav Mukherjee, expressing his surprise on the way all the committees have been dominated by Congress councillors, said there should have been a balance by giving due representation to all.

BJP councillor Surinder Jagota too expressed his anguish and said that while all others committees were dominated by Congress councillors, the House Tax Assessment Committee had only one member (Senior Deputy Mayor Anju Beniwala).