PONDA: The Bethora gram sabha convened on Sunday turned stormy over the absence of the local MLA at the meeting.
Locals said they were inconvenienced due to a lack of development projects in the panchayat area, and had not received any response to the letters written to MLA and WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar, which is why they had resolved in the previous gram sabha to have him present for the next meeting.
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Agitated over the MLA’s absence, locals sought to pass the resolution to not to invite the MLA for any programmes held in the panchayat. However, the panchayat members refused to table such a resolution, which angered the locals even more, and they threatened to wave black flags if he attended any event in the village. In the end, a resolution for the MLA to attend the next gram sabha was tabled, which was strongly opposed by the villagers.
Sarpanch Umesh Gaude informed the villagers that Minister Subhash Shirodkar would not be able to attend the meeting as he is occupied with other work.
A resolution was tabled by the locals for a flyover to be erected at Saterimal-Nirankal, as water from the Dudhsagar river enters the houses of the locals during the monsoon. Villagers decided to send a copy of the resolution to PWD.
Meanwhile, a scam that took place in the panchayat during 2018-19 came to light a few months ago when officials came to check the accounts of the panchayat.
