Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Rental values: Congress looks for a way out

VIJAYAWADA: Two days after a resolution seeking review of the final notification on revised rental values was passed by the general body of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), the ruling Congress is looking for ways to find an honourable way out to implement the resolution.

Senior leaders of the party express the view that it is a difficult task to evolve consensus among the party’s corporators and also get the opposition parties’ cooperation in realising the objective of the resolution. They feel that they can take up the matter either with the Government or with the Commissioner only if all political parties arrive at commonly agreed revised rental values.

To achieve this formidable task, Congress leaders in the city plan to convene an informal meeting of all stakeholders, including political parties, taxpayers and business community. “The Congress will convene a meeting very soon,” says senior Congress corporator Samanthapudi Narasaraju.

It is not possible to convene the meeting officially, as there is no provision in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) Act to do so as the final notification has already been issued. Thus, the onus lies on the ruling party to either convince all stakeholders to arrive at a consensus figure of rental values or mount pressure on the Government to limit the hike in rental values to a figure acceptable to the business community, sources say.

Senior Congress corproators are of the view that they should involve local MLAs and the MP to prevail upon the Government only as a last resort. The Congress is also mulling limiting the hike in rental values of Non-Residential (NR) properties to 50 per cent of the current value and 25 per cent for residential properties.

While the Congress leaders maintain that the ball is in the Opposition parties’ court, the Left parties assert that they have already made their stand clear at the special meeting of the general body.

“A 20 to 30 per cent enhancement in rental values for NR properties is agreeable to our party,” says P. Gowtham Reddy, CPI floor leader in the VMC general body. Other floor leaders too expressed similar views in the special meeting, he points out. “We made our stand clear at the special meeting. We do not have any objection if the traders and taxpayers agree to the ruling party’s proposals,” says Ch. Babu Rao, CPI (M) floor leader in the general body.

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