North Lakhimpur Municipal Board grapples with problems; Rani Narah slams district administration

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: The North Lakhimpur Municipal Board (NLMB) seems to be grappling with problems. The proposed oath-taking ceremony of the Board led by Congress ward commissioner Surya Phukan did not commence though it was fixed by the district administration on Thursday.

Lakhimpur Deputy Commissioner Dr. Jeevan B had authorized ADC Bipul Kumar Das to conduct the oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected chairperson Surya Phukan and vice-chairperson Renuka Gohain Baruah on Thursday by an order given on November 29. Surya Phukan and Renuka Gohain Baruah were selected as chairman and vice-chairperson on November 9 after BJP chairman Samiran Konwar lost the no-motion confidence motion on the same day.

On Thursday, the ward commissioners of NLMB assembled in the conference hall of the office to attend the ceremony but it was not held due to the absence of any representative from the district administration. It is alleged that no information was intimated formally as to why the oath-taking ceremony was not held.

At this, a member of NLMB, Rajya Sabha MP Rani Narah, who was present in the NLMB office to witness the event as per invitation, came down heavily on the district administration regarding the issue. She said that the district administration, showing no goodwill, had kept the NLMB hanging under the pressure of the ruling party for its political and material benefits.

“At present, North Lakhimpur town is surrounded by waste due to non-operation of the Board. The DC is not paying due attention to the civic problems of the people,” she added.

In connection with the issue, she criticized Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in strong terms. “Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is not running his immature government. It is being run by the party, which does not happen in Congress-led government. Only the Chief Minister leads the Congress government. Due to the immature leadership of Sarbananda Sonowal, various anomalies occurred during the first phase of the panchayat poll, 2018,” she said.

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