GHMC Meet Ends Amid Violence, Debate Shelved

Hyderabad: All hell broke loose as the GHMC council meeting took a violent turn here on Saturday, leaving many corporators with injuries. One of them left with a torn shirt and another with a broken wristwatch. Corporators took on the marshals who were trying to bring the situation under control.

The meeting was adjourned four times and ended abruptly around 1.40 pm. Not even a single item on the agenda regarding development works was discussed.

The unrest started soon after the council meeting began around 10.40 am when members of the BRS and BJP cast aspersions against Congress members. Trouble started when members from AIMIM and BJP nearly came to blows and the situation went out of control.

The meeting started with BRS members, playing to the gallery, demanding the resignation of the mayor and deputy mayor, who joined Congress by dumping the BRS.

Not ones to sit quite, Congress corporators and ex-officio members, carrying coat-pocket versions of the Constitution popularized in the Lok Sabha by Rahul Gandhi, retaliated.

“Irony died a thousand deaths when BRS members spoke about defections and cited ethics,” they said.

Mayor G. Vijayalakshmi, who made vain bids to restore normalcy, also admitted that the city has hardly witnessed any development in the last three years. She said that it has only been in the last six months that works were gathering pace and the BRS members were now creating a ruckus.

While the BRS corporators wore black badges, the BJP members wore black kanduvas. Unlike in the earlier days, former ministers and senior leaders, who do not frequently attend the council meetings, were also present, including Talsani Srinivas Yadav and Mahmood Ali (BRS), Etala Rajendar (BJP) and Anil Kumar Yadav, M.S. Prabhakar Rao and Balmoori Venkat (Congress).

The only time when calm prevailed in the house was during the condolence resolutions for Dharmapuri Srinivas and G. Lasya Nanditha, among others.

The situation worsened subsequently when BJP members held placards alleging a friendship between Congress, BRS and AIMIM.

Unable to restore order, the chair adjourned the meeting abruptly.