Protests by opposition parties against the alleged unilateral proceedings by the ruling party marked the general body meeting of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation council led by chairman and Mayor Rayana Bhagya Lakshmi at the Council Hall on Thursday.
Telugu Desam Party corporators boycotted the council meeting alleging that the YSRCP-led governing body was passing all the items in the council agenda without leaving any room for discussion. The corporators of TDP and YSRCP were engaged in a war of words as they tried to defend their actions in the council meeting. This forced the Mayor to adjourn the meeting twice.
TDP floor leader N. Balaswamy demanded that the VMC repay the amount collected from people as it failed to construct and hand over the APTIDCO houses to them so far. MLA Malladi Vishnu said that the delay in completion of the construction was caused as a result of poor quality construction by the TDP government.
Suspended
CPI(M) floor leader and lone corporator Boyi Satya Babu also criticised the ruling party for not discussing the agenda before approving the proposals.
He was suspended by the Mayor and was forced out by marshals.
Mr. Satya Babu later staged a sit-in outside the Council Hall. He alleged that the ruling party was not willing to discuss issues like damaged roads, allocation of TIDCO houses and controlling of viral fevers which were a major cause for concern.
Later, TDP corporators walked out of the meeting alleging that the issues raised by them were not addressed.
Construction of an indoor stadium at a cost of ₹8 crore and appointment of over 200 vidya volunteers were among key resolutions passed by the Council.
Earlier in the day, TDP and CPI(M) corporators staged a protest on the premises of the VMC office. They demanded that the government immediately sanction houses to all eligible beneficiaries. They also demanded the withdrawal of the proposal of setting up water meters to household connections and withdrawal of true-up charges on electricity bills.
