TIRUPATI: If the temple city of Tirupati secured corporation status, it did not come without its own quota of political intrigues and legal battles.

In fact, there are conflicting claims between the Congress and TDP over the conferment of the status on the 90-year-old municipality.

Since the day the G.O. was released in this regard by the State Government, the ruling Congress is trying to hog the whole credit while the TDP pooh-poohs it saying that it was Chandrababu Naidu's regime which mooted the proposal ten years ago as part of its scheme to show-case Tirupati as a model city.

Political angle

The TDP though had initiated the proposal about ten years ago for some reason or other could not make it a reality. But the Congressdid not waste any time.

The Tirupati municipal council was under the control of the TDP. The TDP-led council anticipating the Congress intentions to dissolve it under the garb of conferring on it the corporation status, got a unanimous resolution adopted requesting the Government not to do it as it had not completed even two years of its mandated five-year term. Interestingly, even the Congress councillors threw their lot behind the TDP.

But the Congressgot a G.O issued first nullifying the resolution adopted by the TDP-led municipal council. Then, by issuing another G.O. as predicted, it dismissed the elected council in the name of conferring the municipality status. But the operation of the G.O was however stayed when the chairman of the municipal council filed a petition before the High Court citing the allegedly dubious intentions.

Faced with the legal and the political road-blocks, the Government reconciled to the situation as it had no other option but to let it complete its full term.

Truncated form

Though the municipality has now secured the corporation status, it does not have under its jurisdiction the dozen-odd peripheral panchayats around as originally proposed.

With the hurdles cleared, the political parties and their prospective contestants for the post of Tirupati's first mayor and the corporators for its 50 divisions are soon expected to go into action mode for the elections tentatively scheduled for May this year.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail