Truce talks gain pace as mayor, corporators remain at odds

The growing discontentment between mayor Sushma Kharkwal and several corporators of her party has prompted intervention from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command, sources in LMC’s general house said.

Amid reconciliation efforts before the upcoming budget meeting of Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), the issue has reached senior party leaders, they confirmed, even after the protesting corporators recently met BJP city president Anand Dwivedi to apprise him of their disagreements with the mayor.

For the past six months, no LMC general house meetings have been conducted, allegedly due to the opposition from several corporators, including the BJP’s, against the mayor’s approach to city development.

They suggested that Kharkwal’s decision to organise a Holi get-together on Wednesday was an attempt to reconcile with the corporators. No such event was held last year. However, only 25 of the 108 corporators took part in the meet-up.

It may be noted that LMC’s 12-member executive committee was supposed to meet on Monday to discuss the proposed ₹4,236.63 crore budget for 2025-26. However, ten members boycotted the meeting. The meeting was then rescheduled for March 18.

No-confidence motion likely?

Speculations are rife that a no-confidence motion is on the cards when LMC’s general house meets next. The LMC house has a total of 108 corporators, out of which 84 are from the BJP.

Several corporators from the ruling party might support the motion if it was proposed, the sources said, adding that even officials in the civic body had the same fears.

One of the key issues fueling the discord is the allocations for waste management. LMC chief finance officer Nand Ram Kureel confirmed that the cost of legacy waste disposal had been set at ₹574 per metric ton, while the cost of fresh waste disposal had been raised to ₹940 per metric ton.

The protesting corporators argue that this pricing disproportionately benefits private waste management firms.

A corporator explained that at the rate of ₹574 per metric ton, the disposal of 2,500 metric tons of legacy waste daily, for example, would cost LMC ₹14.35 lakh per day and ₹52.37 crore, annually. Similarly, the disposal of similar amount of fresh waste would cost LMC ₹23.5 lakh per day and ₹85.77 crore annually.

Corporators feared that such high expenses, without proper discussions, would put an excessive financial burden on LMC, which relied primarily on tax revenue.

Ward fund distribution ‘inconsistent’, ‘insufficient’

Another point of contention is the ward development fund. Corporators argued that the allocated ₹1.47 crore (including GST) per ward was insufficient for development works and, therefore, should be increased. They also alleged that while their funds remain limited, the mayor’s development fund has been increased to around ₹35 crore. However, LMC officials stated that corporators’ development funds had also seen some increase under Kharkwal’s tenure.

Corporator Mamta Chowdhury of the Congress party alleged that whatever decisions were made and passed in the LMC house were never implemented on the ground. She stated that if LMC did not address the corporators’ issues, the executive committee members would again boycott their next meeting again. She also hinted at the possibility of a no-confidence motion when the House was in session next.

Mayor Kharkwal could not be reached for comments when contacted.