Gurugram: Gurugram may soon be able to elect its mayor directly as the Haryana government has decided to elect its Mayors directly from the various cities. "In a bid to strengthen the municipal bodies, the government has decided that the Mayors will be provided with more powers and to be directly elected by the people. If all goes according to the plan, just like the presidential elections in the United States of America, the mayor will go directly to the people for seeking votes. Sources indicated that the state government is also planning to provide powers to the mayor on the lines of the elected MLA," the state government's Cabinet said in its last meeting.
Though this rule implies in all the cities in Haryana including Gurugram considering the fact of being the richest municipal body in the state which also holds greater significance. The Municipal Corporation in Gurugram is ten-year-old and it has been a roller coaster ride not only for the corporation but also for the two mayors that the millennium city has had so far.
The multiplicity of agencies in the past have resulted in ambiguity in the Municipal Corporation of Gururgam (MCG). Moreover, the past elections in Gurugram municipal body have witnessed no majority by any single party and majority of the councillors have been independents. Besides this, there have also been the posts of the Deputy Mayor and the Senior Deputy Mayor that further dilutes the complaints which were earlier being raised by the aggrieved citizens.
After hectic political negotiations with the councillors, the mayors were finally elected by the elected representatives but earlier there were allegations that how the powers of mayor were deliberately diluted.
The structure of MCG is designed in a way that describes that besides the councillors there is also an MCG commissioner that is mostly at the helm of the affairs.
During various MCG meetings, heated debates often took place where the differences between the councillors and the officials have come out in the open. "It is a great initiative and I hope it gets implemented. All the great cities like New York and London have a strong Mayor. It is high time that the Millennium city also has a strong and an accountable mayor," said Sachita Chawla, a city resident.