GHMC council meeting turns ugly as TRS, BJP, MIM engage in slugfest

Hyderabad: A high-octane drama unfolded at the special budget session during the GHMC council meeting on Tuesday when the BJP corporators objected to TRS members wearing party stoles (Khandwa) during the meeting.

The BJP corporators interrupted while TRS corporator from Seethaphalmandi division, Hema Samala, was speaking at the council meeting. Terming that the allegations of BJP members on Mayor unfortunate, Hema said, "In spite of their participation in the budget discussion, the BJP corporators are diverting the attention of members over the party stoles issue, and are scared to talk about the development works carried out by the State government in GHMC limits by spending crores of rupees in the last seven years," said Hema.

This led to a clash between TRS and BJP corporators as they all got up from their seats and walked down towards the Mayor's desk. The irate Mayor warned disciplinary action against the corporators and later adjourned the session for 15 minutes, after which the session was completed with cameras and mikes switched off.

TRS, MIM corporators spar

A heated argument broke out between the TRS and the MIM corporators over the civic amenities provided in the Old City and other parts of the city during the council meeting. During the session, former city Mayor and current MIM corporator from Mehdipatnam, Majid Hussain was interrupted by TRS corporators while he was speaking about the civic issues faced by the people in the Old City and other parts of the city.

Majid Hussain said that the garbage was getting piled up in every corner of the city and GHMC was penalising the tax-paying citizens for its inability to keep the environs clean. Responding to Majid Hussain, Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, who chaired the council meeting, assured that the steps would be taken for lifting of garbage on daily basis.

Hussain expressed his anger over the presentation of the budget after an inordinate delay. He expressed his shock over the functioning of the Corporation officials without knowing the law.

Referring to the allocation of Rs 2,600 crore to the Corporation by the State government during the 2021-22, he said not a single penny from the allotted sum was released to the Corporation by the State government.

He wondered as to why the officials of the Finance department of the Corporation not cornering the State government on the issue of the non-allocation of funds? He took strong exception to the imposition of taxes on the residents of the Corporation instead of seeking funds from the State government.

Later, an argument also took place between the Mayor and the MIM corporators over other civic issues.