FAISALABAD, May 18: A tug of war is going on between the chairmen of tehsil council’s standing committees on one hand and the ruling group headed by Nazim Mumtaz Ali Cheema on the other over allotment of offices to the former.

Members of the Opposition who clinched the posts of standing committees’ chairmen announced that they would set up their offices in tents on the lawns of TMA Complex in the wake of refusal of the city Nazim to allot them rooms for their offices.

The TMO also refused to approve rooms for the offices when he was approached by the Opposition in this regard. He forwarded the application to the city Nazim.

The City Group, backed by the Opposition, won five of the nine seats of chairmen of standing committees. After the elections, the chairmen occupied rooms of the TMA Complex on their own and displayed their nameplates on the doors.

The chairmen, Nadeem Ahmad Dogar (infrastructure and services), Rana Israr Ahmad (finance), Abdul Hafeez Bawa (regulation), Mian Sarfraz Ahmad (accounts) and Mian Iqbal Akhtar (sports and culture), at a meeting presided over by opposition leader Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf, blamed the ruling group for creating hurdles in their way.

They claimed that the establishment of offices in the TMA Complex was their lawful right, but Nazim Cheema was playing into the hands of anti-democratic elements in this regard, which, they warned, could endanger his own tenure.

It may be noted here that the TMA had removed the nameplates of chairmen of standing committees from their respective offices, describing them as illegal occupants.

According to TMA sources, the ruling group of the TMA has been facing an uphill task in maintaining control over TMA affairs due to the emergence of a strong opposition. The recently elected chairmen of important committees of the TMA have succeeded in creating a niche for themselves in resolving people’s problems.

Sources further said that sensing the danger, the TMA not only deprived them of their offices but also announced legal action against members of the opposition for grabbing the rooms without its prior permission.