Hyderabad Mayor Ends Special Council Meeting Abruptly

Hyderabad Mayor Majid Hussain kicked off a fresh controversy by ending Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's Special Council meeting on Thursday. High drama was witnessed at the meeting, as Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members protested against his decision to conclude and adjourn the special council meeting with TDP corporators even going on a two-hour long dharna.

The mayor also suspended the lone MBT corporator for disrupting the meeting. While the special meeting was underway, MBT corporator Amjadullah Khan demanded that he be given a chance to present his views on the budget. However, the mayor told Khan that he could have his say only after the floor leaders of recognised parties had spoken since he was the lone representative from MBT, which was not a recognised party. However, the MBT corporator insisted that he be heard immediately upon which the mayor suspended him and directed marshals to evict the corporator as he was disturbing the meeting. Later, the corporator sat on a dharna alleging that he had received injuries from the marshals who had misbehaved with him and lodged a complaint at Saifabad police station.

The TDP corporators staged their dharna in front of the mayor's chamber after he brought the special meeting to an abrupt end even as their floor leader, Singireddy Srinivas Reddy, was making a point on the water problem in the surrounding municipal circles. The corporators criticised the mayor for his autocratic behaviour and, along with an apology from Majid Hussain, demanded a special budget for the water and sewerage network in surrounding circles. The mayor subsequently invited the agitating corporators into his chambers and explained to them the circumstances that had led to him ending the meeting. He assured them that he would visit the surrounding areas and resolve water and sewerage infrastructure problems there.

The mayor also drew flak for adjourning the meeting abruptly for 10 minutes when BJP's floor leader Bangari Prakash was making suggestions on the budget. The BJP leaders protested against the mayor's attitude and the disrespect shown a floor leader as soon as the meeting resumed after the break. That led the mayor to give another opportunity to the BJP floor leader to complete his speech. Prakash demanded a Crime Investigation Department (CID) probe into the irregularities in land compensation for road widening work as part of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project. He said that a probe should be ordered into properties acquired over the last 10 years.

However at the end, as if to please the members, the mayor announced Rs 1 crore per corporator for the corporators' budget, which was presented to the council for its approval. Upon the request of MIM floor leader Nazeeruddin, Majid Hussain announced that the budget scheme would be extended to the five co-opted members of the corporation.