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First elected as a councillor back in December 2021, Chandigarh mayor Anup Gupta, 38, is among the richest of the 35 city councillors with assets — including those of his wife — adding up to ₹45 crore.
Gupta, who owns a palatial house in Sector 28, operates an array of businesses in the city — including the Kalka Ply palace in Sectors 7 and 22, a Hyundai agency in Industrial Area — and has also invested money in various properties. A BCom LLB graduate, he is also a trustee of Bharat Vikas Parishad, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and a sister association of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The mayor’s wife, Anu Gupta is a homemaker and the couple has an eight-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.
Despite his father Rajesh Gupta being a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor, the new mayor’s foray into politics was not a family affair. Instead, he was introduced to the field by former Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon.
It was then that Gupta, a cricket enthusiast, became a member and later treasurer of the UT Cricket Association. Later, he developed a close work relationship with BJP’s the UT president Arun Sood — who helped him secure a ticket from ward number 11 that had at one point been represented by his father in December 2021.
He won the elections and was elected deputy mayor in 2022 as a first-time councillor.
Gupta’s rise to the top spot in city MC hasn’t been smooth sailing all along. As per one of his party colleagues, his entry into politics and him being chosen for the plum posts has been a direct result of his financial might and he is viewed by some as a greenhorn given that he is relatively new to the BJP and politics in general.
The same leader accused the party leadership of not weighing in seniority while choosing the mayoral candidate, and mentioned that Gupta does not have the best connection with the party cadre.
‘No new taxes’
Only two years after winning his first councillor election, Anup Gupta has risen to the top of the Chandigarh municipal corporation after having been elected mayor on Tuesday. In an interview with Hillary Victor post his win, Gupta speaks about his immediate plans of tackling major issues being faced by Chandigarh, securing more funds from UT administration and Centre, ward-wise development and taxes.
How do you plan to tackle the city’s waste collection problem?
The civic body is all set to start the construction of a new integrated solid-waste management processing plant in Dadumajra. The plant is coming up at the landfill area that covers around 20 acres of land. The site shall be cleared by March this year. However, the intention and plan is to ensure that another dump does not come up in the city and that 100% of waste is processed on a daily basis.
Do you see a way of fixing the gaps in proper garbage collection from the source?
My priority will be to ensure that door-to-door garbage collection be implemented fully, so we can improve our Swachhta ranking. We will seek help from resident welfare associations (RWA) and residents to spread awareness about segregation of waste. I will soon hold meetings with municipal corporation officials and organise a few camps in various sectors.
Are there any plans to introduce new taxes?
The city is known for its quality of living and we intend to maintain the image. The civic body does not plan on introducing any new taxes of increase the charges being levied on the water and other utilities.
With the ever-shrinking parking space, what is the way forward?
The civic body will soon introduce a FASTag-based parking system and have a dedicated mobile app to serve all 89 parking lots across the city. Drivers of vehicles without a FASTag will also be able to pay using mobile wallets. Currently, attendants issue parking slips and collect payments manually, but under the new system, boom barriers will open automatically once a vehicle approaches the entry point. No charge will be levied.
Hillary Victor is a Principal Correspondent at Chandigarh. He covers Chandigarh administration, municipal corporation and all political parties. …view detail
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