Councillors up ante against Manikonda civic body chief

Rangareddy: The growing differences between the chairman and the councillors in Manikonda municipality are becoming wider every day, as a fresh conflict of interest was witnessed on Tuesday when a dozen councillors raised a banner of revolt against him again.

The chairman, Kasturi Narendar, who is also in charge of the Congress Party Rajendranagar constituency, has survived a no-confidence motion by the councillors in January 2023. Although he managed to secure his position, the majority he enjoys in the council remained in question, as nearly half of a total of 20 members were found to completely disapprove of him last time.

Now, almost 13 councillors wrote to the RR additional collector on Tuesday, seeking authorities’ intervention against the alleged unilateral decisions of the chairman, which, they said, were taken without consulting other ward representatives.

Blaming the chairman for resorting to one-upmanship in the council, buttressed by the support of officials, the councillors said, "The chairman is unilaterally preparing the agenda of meetings without any consultation with the councillors, despite the fact that the council was mandated to have collective decisions over the agendas with wider consultations between the chairman and the representatives before being placed in the council,’ said the letter signed by 11 councillors.

The actions of the chairman and the municipal officials, with the help of officers in the council, are leading to financial discrepancies and corruption that serves only his personal and pecuniary interests instead of speaking anything about the welfare of the people of Manikonda," it said.

The letter speaks about the murky affairs between the chairman and the real-estate builders, who, according to the councillors, are making decisions that favour these entities.

“The underground drainage system is meant to facilitate the public's approval to serve the interests of private property. No resolution regarding the same has been placed or passed in the council meeting,” said the councillors, corroborating the allegations levelled in the letter.

The councillors appended the list of alleged irregularities in the last several years, which speak more about the murky affairs prevailing in the council, to consolidate their point.

Councillors from wards 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 13, 19 and 20 signed the letter with a copy enclosed to the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) and the Director-General Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Telangana.

Narender had contested the Assembly elections in 2023 but tasted defeat despite having a good chance to win. Analysts attributed his defeat to a poor show of leadership in Rajendranagar, where, they said, the Congress has been living through groupism ever since Kasturi was made party in-charge.