The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Ponnur municipal chairperson on her way out

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Ponnur municipal chairperson on her way out

Staff Reporter

21 out of 31 councillors favour no-confidence motion

Announcement of result withheld following High Court order
Congress dissidents join hands with TDP

–Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

winners smile! Telugu Desam Party district president P. Pulla Rao and former ZP Chairman Paturi Nagabhushanam compliment Ponnur MLA D. Narendra Kumar in Ponnur on Wednesday.

PONNUR (GUNTUR DT): The three-year tenure of Municipal Chairperson Nallamothu Ruth Rani may come to an end after 21 out of 31 councillors of Ponnur Municipal Council voted in favour of the no-confidence motion tabled at the special session here on Wednesday.

Tenali Revenue Divisional Officer and Presiding Officer I. Venkateswara Reddy withheld the announcement of the result following a High Court stay order. Ironically, the Chairperson and the 10 councillors supporting her stayed away from the session amid tight security, paving the way for a unanimous verdict on the no-confidence motion.

Blow to Congress

The verdict came as a blow to the ruling Congress and exposed the internal squabbles that had been dogging the party in the municipality. Out of 20 councillors, the Chairperson could muster the support of only 10 and even the last-minute efforts of PCC general secretary Ambati Rambabu to persuade the dissident Congress councillors to toe the line of PCC, by issuing a whip, failed to woo them back.

The RDO read out the no-confidence motion and called for voting. All the 21 councillors who were present voted in favour of the motion. Outside the hall, TDP supporters celebrated the occasion by bursting crackers and distributing sweets.

Party district president Prattipati Pulla Rao, Guntur City unit president Nimmakayala Rajanarayana and general secretary Vasireddy Jayaramaiah were also present.

The Ponnur MLA Dhullipalla Narendra Kumar said that they would now support the candidature of Gumpula Prasanna, councillor from Ward 22 as the next chairperson.

The Ponnur Municipality, which was bagged by the Congress in the 2005 polls was mired in internal squabbles. A novice to active politics, practising physician Nallamothu Ruth Rani was nominated as the Chairperson following the directions of Pradesh Congress Committee.

Efforts to pull her down began almost a year ago with a dissident group in Congress openly joining hands with the TDP.

Sensing trouble, the Congress high command requested senior Congress leaders and Duggirala MLA Gudibanda Venkat Reddy to bring an amicable settlement . The mission however failed and the TDP successfully broke the Congress ranks and upstaged the Chairperson.

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