In a letter to Mayor Bharati Vyas, Congress leader Kanchanbhai Parmar demanded that the proposal be withdrawn as incurring such expenses was uncalled for when the VMC was facing financial difficulty. He observed that there were already three people working in the Mayor's office, unlike the system of only two in the past.

Parmar said when not a single mayor in the past had received such a facility there was no need to extend it to the present one. BJP Councillor Dr Jigeesha Sheth, however, stated that the mayor should have asked for the facility from the beginning.

Standing committee chairman N V Patel told Express Newsline when the facility would help the efficiency of the administration which dealt in civic works of crores of rupees such a move should be welcomed and the negligible amount should not be considered. If the proposal is approved, the VMC will spend Rs 2,000 towards the attendant's salary.

Former MP and Congress councillor Satyajit Gaekwad observed that the mayor could employ someone from the VMC which was overstaffed. He stated that for the convenience of the people, she could display her availability time at her residence. According to him, usually only close friends or electorates from the respective wards called up at the residence, for which it was enough only if timings were displayed.

Claiming that there was a facility with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) by which calls could be diverted to other numbers, Gaekwad said the mayor could use this facility.

Lokshahi Morcha councillor Chandrakant Shrivastav also stated that there was no need for such a facility for people who called up the Mayor to talk to him or her directly. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) councillors Ashwin Thakore, Harish Vaghela and Shankarrao Tandlekar stated that the ruling party was ``unnecessarily providing facilities'' to its office-bearers in the civic body.

``Earlier, the deputy mayor and standing committee chairman were given cars, then the office-holders were provided with cellular phones and later chairmen of the various committees were allowed to fit air-conditioners in their cabins,'' Thakore pointed out.