DHARAN, Dec 15: Due to a conflict between Dharan Sub-metropolis Mayor Harka Sampang who won the mayorship as an independent candidate and ward chairmen and executive members of the sub-metropolis who were elected from various political parties, the executive meeting of Dharan has been continuously postponed.
Three consecutive executive meetings of the sub-metropolis have been affected by the issue of Mayor Sampang stopping the executive members from speaking and “insulting them by telling them to go out of the meeting”. The executive meeting was called at 8 o'clock in the morning Today (Thursday) but the meeting could not be held due to this issue. Important decisions have been stopped because the meeting could not be held three times in a row, and the sub-metropolis has become a prisoner of indecision.
Executive members have been boycotting the meeting demanding an apology from the mayor for insulting them. Mayor Sampang, on the other hand, has been maintaining that he hasn’t said anything he should apologize for. This insistence of both parties is affecting at least one meeting every month.
On Thursday morning, only four ward chairs attended the meeting in a representative way. Surya Bahadur Bhattarai (Manoj), ward chairman of Ward No. 17, Naresh Iwaram, Chairman of Ward No. 15, Narendra Kumar Rai (Pravin) of Ward No. 18 and Bhupendra Bhattarai of Ward No. 6 attended the meeting as representatives of political parties. The chairman of Ward 6 is elected from independents, while that of Ward 17 is elected from Maoists, Ward 18 from Congress and Ward 15 from UML. Elected from various parties, they have also been made the leader of the parliamentary party by the parties.
Chairman of Ward 17 and municipal executive spokesperson Bhattarai, who participated in the meeting, maintained that Mayor Sampang should apologize for insulting and inhumane behavior with the executive member by not allowing him to speak and asking him to leave. He said that until Mayor Sampang is held accountable and apologizes, none of the executive members will participate in the meeting for making the city a prisoner of indecision, saying that they are running the city by decree, going outside the law and making decisions and opinions from Facebook. An illusion has been created that 28 of us have come to spoil Dharan and only the mayor has come to build Dharan. There could be human error, mistakes but not accepting it, not taking the initiative for the meeting and following orders has resulted in this situation,” said Bhattarai.
Mayor Sampang, insisting that he was doing his job, took the stand of not apologizing. “We shouldn’t live in the past. I don't think I have done anything wrong to apologize," Mayor Sampang said. "If the position is that the meeting will proceed only after I apologize, I will not and I am clear."
Deputy Mayor Begha expressed concern that if the conflict between the executive members and the mayor continues, Dharan will be a prisoner of indecision. He also asked to find a solution by communicating with each other in a coordinated manner. "Mayors and ward chairs should not be stubborn. People's issues should not be overshadowed. The mayor and ward chairs should reconsider. They should not be egoistic," he said.
Deputy Mayor Begha said that the salaries of teachers, salaries of health workers, and daily allowances of contractual employees have been stopped due to the non-holding of the executive meeting. "The selected plans have been put on the table without being implemented. As a whole, the city has become a prisoner of indecision. This should not be the case. Both sides should work together,” he said.