KOCHI: The Corporation's golden jubilee celebration which will be inaugurated by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday has kicked up a row with the Opposition alleging corruption and wasteful expenditure in conducting the function.According to the Opposition LDF, the civic body is spending a huge amount on the inaugural function of the jubilee celebrations scheduled to take place at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium. "As per the details, the Corporation has earmarked `66 lakh for the inaugural function. Of this, `20 lakh has been set apart for setting up the stage/dais. Since the event is scheduled to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, there is no need to spend such a huge amount on a stage. There is massive corruption involved in this," Leader of Oppositon K J Antony told reporters at the Ernakulam Press Club on Monday.
"Even the Chief Minister and government representatives were not extended proper invites . They scheduled the inauguration for Wednesday knowing the ministers have to attend the Cabinet meeting. It was deliberately done by the ruling council," alleged V P Chandran, another Opposition councilor.
The Opposition also said the event could have been organised in a much better way if the Corporation had discussed it with the Opposition. “The golden jubilee celebrations without the participation of the state government and city residents will prove a complete waste of public money. The councillors from the ruling front are also unhappy with the 'autocratic way of the Mayor," said Chandran.
However, Mayor Soumini Jain said though the event was organised hastily it was properly communicated to the Opposition. "They are levelling baseless allegations. As Vice-President Naidu is attending the event the safety guidelines of Special Protection Group need to be followed. As per their guidelines, the event can't be organised in an open place," Mayor said."Since there is not much time left for the function an urgent tender was floated. The lowest bidder got the tender and later we negotiated to reduce the amount further," the Mayor said. "We invited the Chief Minister and he expressed his inability to attend the event. The CM said he will participate later," she said.