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Sunday, Aug 05, 2007
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Mudigonda: ruckus in VMC meet

Staff Reporter

Resolution passed seeking report on land availability

VIJAYAWADA: The general body meeting of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Saturday passed a resolution seeking a detailed report from the officials on the availability of land in the corporation’s limits for construction of houses for the poor. The officials were asked to submit the report to the next meeting of the general body.

The resolution was passed at the end of an acrimonious session that took many twists and turns, with a few corporators delivering inflammatory speeches and using unparliamentary language, particularly over Mudigonda firing.

CPI floor leader P. Gowtham Reddy, who proposed that the VMC identify vacant lands and build houses for the poor, remarked that the TDP had ‘hijacked’ the land struggle launched by the Left parties. Reacting swiftly, TDP floor leader Y.V. Ramana Rao said no single political party could claim ownership of any public movement.

CPI (M) floor leader Ch. Babu Rao created an uproar when he passed some indirect remarks critical of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. With Congress members demanding apology, CPI corporators joined their Left colleagues to defend Mr. Babu Rao. Even as Mayor Mallika Begum tried to pacify the two groups, Arava Venkata Satyanarayana of the Congress used an unparliamentary word to criticise the Left parties. All hell broke loose following this, with the Left corporators rushing to the Mayor’s podium demanding apology from Mr. Satyanarayana.

Deadlock

Ms. Begum adjourned the meeting for lunch and convened a meeting with all the floor leaders in her chamber. The deliberations lasted two hours on how to break the deadlock.

When the general body resumed the meeting at 5 p.m., Mr. Babu Rao and Mr. Satyanarayana explained that they did not intend to hurt anyone with their remarks and sought to convey rather indirect apologies to the members. Ms. Begum ordered removal of the derogatory remarks from the records, putting an end to the acrimony that held up any useful discussion in the meeting for better part of the day.

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