Two BJP MLAs on Wednesday met Gautam Deb, the chairperson of the board of administrators at the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, and offered their help to handle the Covid-19 situation and resolve longstanding civic issues.

Shankar Ghosh and Shikha Chatterjee, the MLAs of Siliguri and Dabgram-Fulbari, respectively, were accompanied by Pravin Agarwal, the BJP president of Siliguri (organisational) district.

The trio spoke to Deb, a former minister, for about an hour and discussed a series of issues pertaining to Siliguri and its surrounding areas.

“It was a cordial meeting where we told the chairperson of the civic body that being local MLAs, we are ready to extend all possible help to the SMC as well as the state government. Be it the prevailing pandemic or old issues of Siliguri, we are there to work together,” Ghosh said.

The Siliguri civic area, which is spread over 47 wards, comes under the Assembly constituencies of Ghosh and Chatterjee. Chatterjee defeated Deb in the Assembly polls.

In north Bengal, this is the first time after the Assembly elections that BJP MLAs have met a civic functionary who has been nominated by the Mamata Banerjee government.

Political observers noted that the courtesy visit by the BJP MLAs could indeed help in addressing different issues more effectively.

“That is what any common man expects from elected representatives. If they work together by keeping aside political differences, it would surely help in handling the ongoing (Covid 19) crisis in a better manner as well as solving issues like the traffic congestion that has been plaguing Siliguri for years and conservation of the Mahananda river and some rivulets,” said an observer.

Deb said the MLAs had paid a courtesy visit and underscored certain civic issues.

“The board of administrators has been constituted by the state government and we have certain limitations. We have explained to them what we have been doing to curb the pandemic and how we are providing civic services to people,” he said.