TD-JS-BJP coalition members collecting signatures in a bid to oust Hari Venkata Kumari
Visakhapatnam: The tipping point has come with Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) mayor Golagani Hari Venkata Kumari of the YSRC Party completing four years of her term in office on Tuesday, March 18.
Under the Andhra Pradesh Municipal Act, a mayor must complete a minimum of four years in office before a no-confidence motion can be moved against her or him. This law has enabled Hari Venkata Kumari to remain in office despite the NDA coalition government taking over power in Andhra Pradesh last year.
Ruling coalition partners at the state level TD, JS and BJP have already met several times to strategize on successfully moving a no-confidence motion against the mayor and replacing her with one of their own members.
During the GVMC elections in 2021, Telugu Desam nominated Pilaa Srinivas as its candidate for the mayoral post. Moves are afoot to position him as the next mayor of Visakhapatnam. Pilaa Srinivas has already started making his moves in this direction, criticising Venkata Kumari's administration.
He told Deccan Chronicle that she has often acted undemocratically by taking decisions without any prior discussion among the members. He pointed out that the Bus Bay Scam in Visakhapatnam had occurred during her tenure.
As per law, a formal notice has to be submitted to the Visakhapatnam district collector to initiate a no-confidence motion with at least half of GVMC's voting members signing the notice.
Voting members in GVMC are 97 corporators, two MPs of the area, one Rajya Sabha member, eight MLAs, and three MLC members, totalling to 111. Therefore, a minimum 56 signatures are required to proceed with the no-confidence motion. The TD, JS and BJP coalition currently has the support of 56 corporators, one MP, eight MLAs, and one MLC. The coalition can thus issue the notice for the no-confidence motion without any difficulty.
Once the notice is drafted, two additional members must verify and sign it before it is presented to the collector. Upon receipt of the no-confidence motion notice, the collector must forward it to the GVMC commissioner for verifying the signatures of those signing the motion. The commissioner analyses the signatures and reports back to the district collector.
Subsequently, the collector convenes a meeting of the council to vote on the no-confidence motion. In case majority of the members present support the motion, the incumbent mayor has to resign.
NDA alliance leaders of Visakhapatnam have travelled to Amaravati to deliberate on the matter. They have held discussions with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM K. Pawan Kalyan and Minister Nara Lokesh. Pilaa Srinivas is currently in Amaravati.
There is speculation that a new GVMC commissioner will be appointed before the no-confidence motion is taken up. Alliance leaders are confident that the process to initiate a no-confidence motion against Mayor Venkata Kumari will commence once the new commissioner takes over office.
In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Venkata Kumari asserted that in case the ruling coalition engineers defections from within the YSRC corporators, it will lead to discontent within the public against the coalition government.
She maintained that it is during her tenure that GVMC has made notable progress, advancing from the 9th to 4th position in the Swachh Survekshan rankings on two occasions.
