No-trust moves against municipal chiefs is the order of the day in Adilabad
Adilabad: A new political war is being waged in several municipalities falling under the erstwhile Adilabad district. The weapon being used to settle scores is issuing notices for a no-confidence motion against incumbent BRS chairmen and vice-chairmen across municipalities, or reviving the notices that were served earlier.
In a related development on Friday, Congress ward councillors gave a no-confidence motion against Penta Rajaiah and Mukesh Goud, chairman and vice-chairman of Mancherial municipality, respectively. Twentysix councillors from the party approached district collector Badhavath Santhosh, who assured that he would schedule a vote after verifying signatures of the councillors who had signed the notice.
The Congress councillors said that the party had the numbers to teach the BRS leaders a lesson after MLA Diwakar Rao had lured five Congress councillors to the BRS. They recalled that 17 councillors of BRS had joined the Congress after Premsagar Rao’s win.
In another development, officials responded to a notice that was issued some months back against Khanapur chairman Ankam Rajender and its vice-chairman. They have now set January 5 as the date for taking up the no-confidence motion. Actually, BRS dissidents and councillors from Congress, BJP and independents had moved the no-confidence motion against Rajender a few months back but officials had kept it pending.
Meanwhile, news making the rounds is that the chairman of Nirmal municipality Gandrath Eshwar, also of BRS, who is facing a no-confidence motion threat, has reportedly arranged a free Goa trip to some councillors so as to thwart moves against him. Reportedly, he enjoys the backing of former minister Allola Indrakaran Reddy.
It is said that a BRS leader in Adilabad has gone to Goa to avoid running into locals from whom he had taken bribes while promising to get dalit bandhu benefits sanctioned in their favour.
Incidentally, a similar situation exists in constituencies that were represented by BRS leaders. Many people who gave money expecting that they would be selected under the rythu bandhu scheme are mounting pressure on them to return the amounts.
- Councillors strike back at BRS leaders
