Tension up with GVMC taking up no-confidence motion against mayor today
Tension is building up as the budget meeting of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) for 2025-26 financial year is scheduled on Saturday.
Visakhapatnam:Tension is building up as the budget meeting of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) for 2025-26 financial year is scheduled on Saturday.
On the day, corporators owing allegiance to the ruling NDA coalition at the state level are expected to move a no-confidence motion against Visakhapatnam mayor Golagani Hari Venkata Kumari, who belongs to the YSRC party.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Venkata Kumari asserted that she intends to attend the meeting. “I am not under any pressure. Perhaps NDA coalition partners might be tense, as they have brought the no-confidence motion and must have sufficient backing,” the mayor stated.
On Friday, corporators of the NDA coalition organised a press conference criticising Botsa Satyanarayana’s remarks about conspiracies against a BC woman and caste-based politics. They accused YSRC leaders of engaging in camp politics due to a lack of confidence in their leadership.
YSRC leaders, who have confined their party corporators to a camp, say they will all together return to Visakhapatnam for the voting on the no-confidence motion, which has been brought against the mayor in an unethical manner.
For the motion to succeed, it requires at least 74 out of 111 voting members to support the no-confidence motion. The alliance is claiming support from 75 members, including 11 ex-officio members and 64 corporators, YSRC leaders claim support of 31 members, with optimism that three absent corporators will comply with the YSRC Party directives.
There are concerns within YSRC that alliance leaders may influence YSRC corporators once they attend the budget meeting.
Politics apart, the GVMC budget needs to be approved by March 31, to avoid stoppage of funds for general expenses starting April 1, 2025. Municipal officials have given the budget draft and relevant information to all the corporators and ex-officio members.