A PROPOSED change in the construction site of Suman High School from Katargam to Ved Road in Surat, allegedly done by some officials at the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) allegedly without following official procedures, recently led to protests by AAP leaders as well as BJP councillors.On the instructions of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the standing committee chairman of the SMC halted the proposal (to construct a school at the new site) in a Standing Committee meeting on Friday. The meeting was chaired by the committee chairman Rajan Patel.Patel directed the staff to stop the ongoing work related ro the construction of the school at the new site in ward no 8. Patel also told Municipal Commissioner Shalini Agarwal about how the site change decision had been taken “without intimation or approval from the Standing Committee.” Patel also urged her to conduct a probe, identify the municipal officials involved and take strict legal action against them.A group of residents of different residential societies in Ward no. 7 handed a memorandum to the Standing committee Chairman, Mayor, and Municipal commissioner on Friday, requesting to keep the Suman high school (starting from 9th class to 10th class) at the proposed site in Ward no. 7 (TP scheme no 50 final Plot (FP) 94) in place of Ward no. 8 (TP scheme no. 35 FP 123).The memorandum, signed by 400 residents of different residential societies, points out that local residents belong to low and middle-income groups and cannot afford the education of their children in private schools with high fees, so Suman school should be established in their ward. The proposed school site is in a prime location, and with the help of the builders’ proposal for the change of site, it was sent by the BJP MLA Veenu Moradiya to the Municipal commissioner and the Katargam Zonal chief. The memorandum further states that if the school is not constructed on the proposed site, they will stage a protest in the coming days.Last year, SMC ward no. 7 (Katargam), BJP councilors Narendra Pandav and Jyoti Patel submitted a proposal to Mayor Daxesh Mavani and municipal commissioner Shalini Agarwal to set up a new Suman High School in Ward no. 7 area for low-income groups.The proposal was approved in the standing committee meeting held on July 17 last year, and at the SMC general board meeting. The municipal corporation officials had carried out the tendering process and selected Gaurav Builders to construct Suman High School in ward no. 7.Story continues below this adUnion Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil laid the foundation stone of the school on September 17, 2025.On October 7 last year, BJP MLA of Katargam, Veenu Moradiya, wrote a letter to Surat Municipal Commissioner Shalini Agrawal requesting her to change the site of construction of Suman School from Katargam (Ward No. 7) to Ved road (Ward no. 8). He claimed that more students from the lower income group and middle class can benefit if the school is located on Ved Road. The residents near the proposed site are wealthy and send their children to private school, so there is no need to set up a school in Ward no. 7 and relocate the construction site to Ward no. 8, where low-income residents reside, who would benefit from such a school.Sources said that in the wake of the letter, the municipal officials concerned did not carry out the construction of the school at the proposed site and, with the help of contractor firm Gaurav Builders, changed the site to ward no. 8. To date, the construction work of the new Suman High School at the new site reached the plinth level.Ward no. 7 has four municipal councilors out of which two councilors (Narendra Pandav and Jyoti patel) while the remaining two councilors are of AAP (Dr Kishor Rupareliya and Dipti Sakariya).Story continues below this adThe BJP and AAP councillors had on Thursday made representations to Mayor Daxesh Mavani and Standing Committee Chairman Rajan Patel to stop the ongoing construction of Suman school at the new site in ward no. 8 and demanded that the school should come up at the proposed site in ward no.7.On Thursday, AAP councillors, along with the Leader of Opposition and AAP councillor Piyal Sakariya, sat on a dharna outside theStanding Committee office on Thursday evening. Dr Kishor Rupareliya and Diptiben Sakariya sat on a dharna for the whole night till Friday afternoon outside the standing committee chairman’s office.Later in the evening, the AAP leaders withdrew their protest after their demands were agreed to in the standing committee meeting on Friday.Sources in the BJP said that a “long internal tussle” is going on between the BJP councillor of Ward no. 7, Narendra Pandav, and the Katargam BJP MLA over several issues.Story continues below this adSMC Standing Committee chairman Rajan Patel said, “We have put a hold on the construction of Suman High School at the new site. We are also shocked that the municipal officials of the Katargam zone had not taken permission or sent a proposal to the standing committee for the change of site from ward no. 7 to Ward no. 8. Such indiscipline will not be tolerated, and we have told the Municipal commissioner to start a probe and take strict actions against the accused officials.”Katargam, BJP councillor of ward no. 7 Narendra Pandav said, “We are satisfied that the standing committee took a decision in favour of thousands of people of ward no. 7, who belong to the low-income group and wanted their children to study in Suman High School. Over 400 people had also given a memorandum to the Municipal commissioner, Mayor and Standing committee chairman.”