‘Wary’ BRS leadership steps in to quell dissidence by councillors

HYDERABAD: Shocked by the increase in dissident activity within the party across municipalities, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is attempting to quell calm tempers within the ranks in the wake of nearly a dozen municipalities held by the party seeing no-confidence motions.

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan keeping her approval pending for The Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 for five months has come in handy for the rebel councillors to move no-confidence motions.

As per the TS Municipalities Act passed in 2019, proposals for a no-confidence motion can only be moved after the municipal councils complete three years of the five-year tenure. Last September’s amendment increased it to four years. The government sent this amendment Bill along with six other Bills passed by the Assembly for Governor's approval. However, they are pending in Raj Bhavan ever since, amid reports of confrontation between the state government and the Governor on several issues for the past two years.

With this, the councillors of the ruling party raised a banner of revolt against their own party chairpersons and vice-chairpersons in nearly a dozen municipalities. These rebels are giving anxious moments to the party leadership by indulging in 'camp politics' and threatening to move no-confidence motions.

Differences between MLAs and councillors, and the party leadership ignoring the promises that it made to rebels while selecting chairpersons and vice-chairpersons in 2019 are cited as reasons for the rebellion.

There were many serious contenders for the top posts in 2019. To pacify the disgruntled leaders, the party leadership arrived at a compromise formula by promising to share the five-year tenure equally between rival contenders. It promised to change the chairperson and vice-chairperson after a two-and-a-half year period and give opportunity to others to complete the remainder of the term.

However, despite the completion of three years, the party leadership has failed to keep up its promise, which, ostensibly, triggered rebellion, much to the leadership's embarrassment.

Party sources said that as part of a damage-control move, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and minister K.T. Rama Rao spoke to MLAs to hold talks with dissident leaders, resolve their differences amicably and ensure that all no-confidence motions are withdrawn.