Politics affecting municipal work: Mayor

Rautahat, June 8

Mayor of Dewahi Gonahi Municipality Dharmendra Patel has blamed extreme political interference for delay in formation of the municipal council, affecting the functioning of the municipality.

“As the municipal council is yet to be formed, a large amount of the development budget of the current fiscal is likely to freeze, thanks to undue interference by leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and due to lack of cooperation from the chief administrative officer Manoj Kumar Rajak,” said the mayor, at a press conference in district headquarters, Gaur today.

The mayor accused deputy mayor Paraniyadevi Patel and majority of ward chairpersons of exerting pressure on him.

He said the chairs had registered random plans in the minute book by taking the chief administrative officer into confidence.

“I’ve noticed that the municipal ward chairpersons called for a tender for construction of Madhes Cultural Museum, a project estimated to cost around 10 million rupees, without informing me. Besides, they picked a man from another municipality as chair of the construction committee,” said the mayor.

He had reported to the Federal Affairs Ministry many times about Chief Administrative Officer Rajak’s irresponsible behaviour, but to no avail, said the mayor.

“I informed the ministry about the chief administrative officer and his activities. Since the ministry did nothing to address my concern I had no option but to put forth my grievances through a press conference,” said Mayor Patel.

Of the total nine wards in the municipality, four seats were won by the then CPN-Maoist Centre and two by the then CPN-UML, while Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal won the

remaining three seats during local level elections.