The Kottayam municipality on Tuesday witnessed dramatic scenes after a section of councillors laid siege to the office of the civic body chief.
The drama began to unfold around 11.30 a.m. when some councillors belonging to the Opposition Left Democratic Front reached the municipal office to attend a meeting of the council. As the meeting was to be held online, the council hall remained locked even as municipal chairperson Bincy Sebastian held a meeting with some United Democratic Front councillors at her office.
Enraged at this, the LDF councillors laid a siege to the chairperson’s office, accusing her of colluding with the UDF and indulging in corruption, taking advantage of the COVID-19 situation.
Leading the protest, councillor N.N. Vinod accused the ruling front of appropriating the decisions in its favour during the online meetings. “The chairperson, who acts under the guidance of some UDF councillors, is giving prior approval to projects of her interest and later getting them passed during these online meeting. The decision to advance ₹1.5 lakh for the renovation of a shed for contractors and drivers, which could have cost only one-third of the amount, is a case in point,” he said.
Councillor Sheeja Anil, who took part in the protest, said the chairperson never bothered to extend the timing of council meetings despite running out of time to complete the agenda. The remaining agendas were later added to the minutes as passed, paving way for corruption, she said adding that several of the councillors had faced troubles in attending these online meetings due to network-related issues.
The protest, which lasted about a couple of hours, ended with the chairperson conceding a demand by the Opposition to open the council hall during the next council meeting.
