LMC budget meeting postponed due to council disagreements

The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has postponed its budget meeting again. This meeting was supposed to discuss a budget of ₹4,236 crore for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Mayor Sushma Kharkwal confirmed that the meeting will not take place on the rescheduled date. This is the second time the meeting has been canceled. The first postponement happened on March 10 when eight members from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two from the Samajwadi Party boycotted the session. Senior officials noted that there is still no agreement on budget allocations. The proposed budget plans to improve traffic systems, repair roads, install streetlights, maintain sanitation, and upgrade parks. If the deadlock continues, the LMC could send the budget directly to the state government instead of going through its usual approval process. Officials expressed concerns that delays could harm civic work. The mayor recently met with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, possibly to discuss issues with dissenting members. However, she did not answer questions about the delays. In response to the boycott of the March 10 meeting, a BJP corporator announced that show-cause notices were issued to those who skipped the session. Some of the boycotting members have not commented on the situation.