The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has failed in checking unnecessary expenditure and taking up people-friendly programmes, charged Janata Dal (S) Floor Leader T. Thimme Gowda.
Addressing his maiden press conference here on Friday, Mr. Gowda alleged that the BJP, the Ruling Party in the BBMP Council, was misusing public funds.
“No development work has been taken up. Instead, the BJP is only mortgaging BBMP properties to get more loans. After mortgaging K.R. Market, the BJP has already set its sights on the Public Utility Building and Jayanagar Shopping Complex.”
Ad tax revenue
No steps were being taken to control the advertisement mafia in the city. BBMP officials had failed to collect Rs. 30.33 crore towards advertisement tax from certain agencies.
“But officials are according permission to the same agencies for the next fiscal. Why have they failed to recover the dues from them? Why is the Commissioner not initiating any action against these officials?” he sought to know.
Mr. Gowda said there was audit objection with regard to Rs. 100 crore. The BBMP, instead of recovering this huge amount, is now trying to waive it. “The BBMP Commissioner must take action against officials who have failed to recover this, besides recovering the amount.”
‘Punish officials'
Action should be initiated against revenue officials who have failed to collect property tax effectively. He alleged that these officials have not collected tax from commercial buildings but were targeting property owners from middle and lower middle classes.
Conceding that there was no coordination between the two Opposition parties — JD(S) and Congress —he said Congress was not an effective Opposition party.
“BJP and Congress are two faces of the same coin,” he charged.
Keywords: BBMP, people-friendly programmes
