The Hindu 21.09.2010
Deputy Mayor, 3 corporators suspended
Staff Reporter
| Heated debate over surrendering the Commissioner to government |
Corporators raise doubts over signature of the Commissioner on the agenda
40 Congress members boycott meeting, stage dharna outside council hall
KAKINADA: Amidst protests from Congress corporators, the extraordinary general body meeting of the Kakinada Municipal Corporation on Monday passed 13 resolutions, including the one on surrendering Municipal Commissioner G.S.N. Murthy to the State government.
Ruckus
Congress corporators created ruckus in the meeting held at Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Corporation Hall. They damaged microphones and smash cups and saucers, as Mayor Kavikondala Saroja was going ahead with the agenda of the meeting, even as they were strongly opposing the resolutions. The extraordinary general body meeting that was already postponed on Saturday due to lack of quorum, began on a serious note with a few corporators raised doubts over the signature of the Municipal Commissioner appended on the agenda. Referring to a report appeared in a vernacular daily, they sought explanation from the Commissioner whether his signature was forged. Since the Commissioner was not present in the meeting, they demanded an adjournment.
Not taking their demands into confidence, Ms. Saroja continued the question hour, in which some corporators raised issues like non-functioning of streetlights and the problem of sanitation in some areas. When the Mayor announced that the question hour was completed, about 40 corporators from the Congress headed by the Deputy Mayor rose from their seats and demanded that the discussion on agenda must be held in the presence of the Commissioner.
Ms. Saroja announced that she was passing a resolution surrendering the Commissioner to the State government.
The agitating corporators opposed the proposal and alleged that the Mayor was taking decisions unilaterally. They sought voting on the resolution, for which the Mayor did not agree, but announced that the Commissioner should not be spared for failing to attend the extraordinary general body meeting.
Besides raising slogans against the Mayor, the corporators turned violent and began smashing the cutlery and the microphones.
When the Mayor announced the suspension of Deputy Mayor Pasupuleti Venkata Lakshmi and corporators I. Srinivas, K. Durga Prasad and Velamala Malleswara for four days, all the 40 corporators left the meeting hall and staged a dharna outside.
Announcing that there was no question of lack of quorum, as all the 50 corporators appended their signatures in the attendance register, Ms. Saroja continued the meeting with the participation of eight corporators. The meeting passed resolutions unanimously.
