Chandigarh, July 26 -- To celebrate Chandigarh's impressive second-place finish in the SwachhSurvekshan 2024 rankings,city mayor Harpreet KaurBabla hosted a warm, all-party tea gathering on Fridayto acknowledge the civicbody's efforts toward improved cleanliness. But the tea party turned cold, and political, with AAP and Congress councillors giving the event a miss, accusing the BJP-led civic body and mayor Babla of taking credit for groundwork laid under previous AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor. While BJP councillors and nominated members sipped tea and lauded the city's progress under the current leadership, the opposition poured scorn on the celebration. In an official statement, AAP said, "When city roads are broken, areas are waterlogged, people are drinking unsafe water and toxic leachate from Dadumajra is entering residential areas, holding celebrations is 'an insult to public pain'. When citizens are struggling.AAP chooses to stand with the people, not with those hosting hollow celebrations." The party said it was under AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor that Chandigarh was ranked the best and now, a BJP mayor was wrongly claiming credit for it. Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi echoed the sentiment, stating that mayor Babla should have invited former mayor Dhalor to the Delhi award ceremony. He added, "Chandigarh has also been put under 'small cities' category by the Union government, which is just eyewash. Besides this, BJP should first focus on solving people's grievances instead of celebrating. City roads are in poor state and infrastructure is depleting with MC crying for funds, but the mayor is focusing on celebrations." Mayor Babla, however, said the event was a sincere attempt to celebrate the city's collective achievement in cleanliness. She extended heartfelt congratulations to the city's sanitation workers, officials and citizens, crediting their unified efforts for this national recognition. She said, "Looking ahead to Swachh Survekshan 2025, the meeting focused on crafting a robust strategy to elevate Chandigarh's cleanliness standards even further. Key action points were discussed, including cleaning drives in backlanes and inner colonies; enhanced door-to-door waste collection mechanisms; strengthened monitoring of public spaces and waste hotspots; citizen awareness campaigns and feedback initiatives; and collaboration with RWAs, schools, and market bodies." "I urge councillors to lead by example in their wards by spearheading cleanliness awareness campaigns and encouraging public participation in the city's sanitation efforts," Babla said....