Hyderabad: Nineteen months after they were elected, seven corporators or their family members face serious criminal cases.
Most of them are from the TRS. Earlier, shadow corporators (the husband of the corporator elected from seats reserved for women) used to rule the roost. Now, it is the entire family.
Cases of extortion, property disputes, bad behaviour and involvement in the private affairs of others have been exposed. In two cases, corporators have got involved in owner-tenant issues.
Recently, a landlord from Venkatapuram tweeted to minister K.T. Rama Rao, “My house is illegally occupied, vandalised and rent has not been paid for the past five months by one P.D. Raj.” The landlord alleged that local TRS leaders have been threatening him.
The hooliganism is rampant across a majority of the 150 wards. It only comes to light when a case is booked, but there are several cases of victims being too afraid to complain.
For instance, TRS leader Rammohan Goud from Vanasthalipuram, whose wife is a corporator, convened a meeting of contractors and builders in his area and allegedly demanded that they pay him a ‘private tax’.
When news of this emerged, Mr Rama Rao reportedly reprimanded Mr Goud, but that was all. Many women are elected corporators, but their husbands and other members of the family create law and order problems.
In Chaitanyapuri, TRS corporator J. Vithal Reddy was spotted threatening a private builder that he would stop GHMC permissions if the builder failed to pay a Rs 10 lakh bribe. The corporator also allegedly attacked the construction workers.
It has been the practice of GHMC corporators to levy a ‘private tax’ on any construction work that is being done. There is a case of a woman corporator who is allegedly collecting ‘private tax’ even from scrap dealers!
No more tickets for corrupt corporators
The government is keeping tabs on corporators and their kin involved in criminal cases, and they will be blacklisted for the next election, TRS sources claim.
The case on TRS corporators could damage the party’s image in the 2019 elections.
In his first meeting with all party corporators on October 28, minister K.T. Rama Rao warned them of stringent action if they failed to mend their ways.
Mr Jinnaram Vittal Reddy was cautioned about his behaviour and Vengalrao Nagar corporator Kilari Manohar faced the minister's wrath after an obscene picture was posted on the official WhatsApp group of the city’s corporators.
