Andhra Pradesh: Council rejects Municipal laws amendment Bill

Amaravati: The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government suffered a setback on Wednesday as the Legislative Council rejected the Andhra Pradesh Municipal Laws (Second Amendment) Bill 2020. The Bill, which was passed by the Assembly on Tuesday, was moved in the Council on Wednesday but the main opposition TDP, which is in a majority in the 58-member House, opposed it along with other opposition members of the Progressive Democratic Front. Municipal administration minister Botcha Satyanarayana said the Bill was in accordance with the reforms in urban local bodies suggested by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs.

The relevant state laws were being amended to switch over property tax levy from the present annual rental value system to capital value based system. The new system would fetch the state over Rs 120 crore as additional revenue on property tax in urban local bodies, the minister said. The opposition members, however, opposed it saying enhancement of property tax along with drainage cess and drinking water charges would impose a heavy burden on the taxpayers.

Discussion on the subject saw exchange of words between the municipal minister and some TDP members. The Bill was rejected by a vote of 29-11. The Council also did not pass the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill and sent it back to the Assembly suggesting several changes. The Assembly passed the Bill on Monday, which Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy called a "mere formality". In fact, the Bill was brought in for the second time as the Council did not approve it when it was first introduced in June this year.

The Council had suggested several amendments in the proposed legislation and returned it to the Assembly. Given its brute majority in the Assembly, the government got the Bill passed in the Assembly but it stumbled in the Council once again.