Warangal: BJP slams civic body over tax hike

Warangal: The BJP has come down heavily on Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) led by the TRS Corporators for proposing to hike the property tax. Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, BJP Warangal Urban District president Rao Padma criticised the TRS government for its callous attitude towards people's problems.

She found fault with the GWMC Council for passing a resolution to increase the property tax.

"It's a sort of New Year gift for the citizens," she ridiculed. She said that there are about one-and-a-half-lakh buildings in the city. Even though the GWMC claims that it was not going to burden the poor, the hike in property tax is likely to affect the tenants. The middleclass is indirectly affected by the Council's decision, she added.

TRS Government which promised to provide double bedroom houses to poor had not fulfilled it, she said.

Even though the Central Government led by the BJP had brought Warangal under Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT and HRIDAY schemes, the State failed to utilise them. This apart, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had promised Rs 300 crore for the development of the GWMC but the city is yet to witness development.

The Kakatiya Urban Development Authority Chairman Marri Yadava Reddy who had visited Bengaluru and urban development authorities in the country says that Warangal has potential to earn hundreds of crores.

In such a case, what is the need for increasing the tax, she questioned. Padma threatened to launch an agitation if the government fails drop its plan to hike the property tax.