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Row over offices for party leaders

Special Correspondent

Protest over non-allocation rocks Council meeting

CHAOS: Councillors clash over resolutions at the Coimbatore Corporation Council meeting on Friday. — Photo: M. Periasamy

COIMBATORE: Protest over non-allocation of offices for some leaders of the Opposition parties rocked the Coimbatore Corporation's Urgent Meeting on Friday.

Angry members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded an explanation from Mayor R. Venkatachalam and insisted that he provide it before proceeding with the subjects listed for discussion for the day.

The members were sore that the allocation this time had stopped with just the heads of the Council's Standing Committees and the Leader of the Congress and the Leader of the Opposition.

Leader of the AIADMK in the Council P. Rajkumar raised the issue and was supported by CPI (M) leader and the Corporation's North Zone chairman C. Padmanabhan. Mr. Rajkumar pointed out that during the term of the previous Council (2001-2006), an office room was allocated to the leaders of the all the parties. He wondered why this practice was not being continued.

Mr. Padmanabhan asked the Mayor whether any specific instruction had been received from the Government over the allocation of offices. The Mayor replied that the Corporation was seeking the Government's clarification on who should be provided with office rooms.

When Mr. Padmanabhan insisted that the Mayor should give a direct and clear reply, Mr. Venkatachalam said there was no instruction to limit the number of office rooms. Mr. Rajkumar then alleged discrimination and asked why the Mayor should call the leaders of all the parties for the civic body's all-party meetings when a basic facility such as an office room was being denied. He accused the Mayor of ignoring the AIADMK while inviting parties for even the pledge against untouchability that was administered recently at the Corporation to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

When Mr. Venkatachalam said he was not aware of the closing of some rooms, M.S. Velmurugan of the CPI(M) wanted to know whether the elected representatives such as the Mayor had any say in the running of the Corporation or whether only the officials ran it. Mr. Padmanabhan called upon the Mayor not to adopt a unilateral approach. "We are not talking in terms of individual parties such as the AIADMK, CPI or CPI (M). Why are we not being consulted?"

Mr. Velmurugan pointed out that the Communist parties were forced to protest because of this approach despite being the allies of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress.

Communist Party of India member K. Purushotaman said: "We will accept the Mayor's explanation that he is not aware of the non-allocation of office rooms. But, we urge him to find a solution to this issue."

The members were also upset that 19 resolutions on schemes to be implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission were to be discussed in just one hour. When leader of the Congress R.S. Thirumugam began reading out the resolutions, members of the AIADMK, MDMK and CPI (M) asked him to stop doing so and insisted that the Mayor should first provide a convincing reply to their questions.

As the din rose and the crowd of Opposition members swelled around the Mayor, Mr. Thirumugam began reading out the resolutions and announced that they were being passed. Mr. Thirumugam went through with all the 19 resolutions and the AIADMK and MDMK staged a walkout. They entered the Council in a few minutes even as the leaders of the Communist parties disapproved of the way in which the resolutions were passed. The Mayor then directed that the resolutions be taken up again and discussed in detail.

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