Congress members virtually boycott SMB meeting, but bills passed

SILCHAR, Nov 9: Silchar Municipal Board (SMB)’s controversial interim chairperson Binay Krishna Das today convened a special board meeting which was virtually boycotted by the 12 ruling Congress party ward commissioners belonging to the camp of Susmita Dev, the ousted chairperson.
Dilip Paul led his six ward commissioners to the meeting, got their presence recorded and then walked out. As a result, the seven rebel Congress ward commissioners had no obstacle to getting some pending bills passed. Das, however, later told journalists that he wished to convene a general meeting to elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson in November itself.
The notice, signed by the interim chairman on November 4 for convening a special Board meeting, reached the Susmita camp on Monday evening, which clearly indicated that there was a plan by the seven rebel Congress ward commissioners, “blessed” by Urban Development Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala, to ensure that the 12 Congress ward commissioners could not be present at the meeting. Susmita was not even in Silchar.
Today, Congress ward commissioner submitted a memorandum to Das who, along with six other rebel colleagues, was suspended by the district Congress for supporting the BJP’s no-confidence motion against Susmita and her deputy Vijendra Prasad Singh, maintaining that they had been requesting him to convene a general meeting to elect the chairperson. Instead of doing so, Das called a special board meeting to get some pending bills passed.
The BJP members, on the other hand, put their signatures to establish the quorum and then walked out, alleging that the interim board had failed to provide civic amenities for the citizens.(The Sentinel)