Bharatiya Janashakti padyatra in MP

Bhopal, July 31: Bharatiya Janashakti General Secretary Bhagwandas Sabnani has announced a padyatra in support of a demand for including the local Kolar area in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) limits instead of it being under a municipal council's jurisdiction.

''The padyatra will begin at Inayatpur on August 1 in the presence of party General Secretary and former Union Minister Prahlad Patel. Such inclusion is not only a legal requirement but also has precedents,'' he told reporters here yesterday.

Pointing out that a sizeable amount would have to be spent if a council was constituted as that would entail formation of 21 wards and election of corporators, Mr Sabnani added that extension of BMC limits would imply redivision of wards and creation of a maximum two or three new wards.

''About 65 to 70 per cent of a council's income will be expended in establishment cost while 5 to 10 per cent will be spent on elected public representatives. That will leave only 20 to 25 per cent for development work. During the padyatra, I will take Kolar residents' signatures on a memorandum to be submitted to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on August 4,'' he said.

UNI