Breach of Covid protocol as GHMC Mayor and deputy take charge amid fanfare

Hyderabad: Mayor-elect Gadwal R. Vijayalaxmi and her deputy Mothe Srilatha Reddy assumed office amid fanfare and jubilation here on Monday. Covid19 protocols were breached as TRS leaders from across the state thronged the event.

The spirited event was held at the Mayor’s chambers in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) headquarters near Tank Bund.

Several senior leaders including home minister Mahmood Ali, minister Talsani Srinivas Yadav, MP K. Keshava Rao, MLC Prabhakar Rao and former mayor Bonthu Rammohan were present.

However, very few were seen wearing face masks and cared two hoots about social distancing and use of sanitizers even as the number of Covid19 cases saw a fresh increase in the state in recent days. Some leaders even breached the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) unmindful of the presence of the returning officer just 100 metres away.

The GHMC staff with strong political leanings made it a point to prominently place photographs of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister K.T. Rama Rao, in the backdrop.
Vijayalaxmi performed special rituals at the GHMC office before she took charge. A second-time corporator and daughter of TRS parliamentary party leader Keshava Rao, the 56-year-old Vijayalaxmi retained the Banjara Hills division in the GHMC polls on December 1 by defeating former BJP MLA Baddam Balreddy’s son Mahipal Reddy.

In the mayoral elections held on February 11, Vijayalaxmi and Srilatha Reddy, both TRS nominees, secured 100 votes (56 of TRS and 44 of MIM) and walked away with the Mayor and deputy Mayor posts.

The Mayor did not speak to the media after the event. Information was passed on that she would interact with them three days later, after acquainting herself with the problems of various wings of the GHMC.