VMC under Special Officer Rule from today

Vijayawada: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation will come under Special Officer Rule from March 18, following the completion of the five-year tenure of the elected body on March 17. With Urban Local Body (ULBs) elections yet to be conducted, the State government has decided to place all ULBs—including municipal corporations, municipalities, and nagara panchayats—under Special Officer Rule. In Vijayawada, NTR district collector Dr G Lakshmisha has been appointed as the Special Officer. As per norms, he will exercise the powers of the council, while the Municipal Commissioner will handle day-to-day administration.

With over 45 years of history, this will be the fourth time the civic body has been placed under Special Officer Rule. Officials said the arrangement will continue until elections are conducted and a new elected council assumes office. VMC was upgraded from a Special Grade Municipality to a Municipal Corporation in 1981. The first elected body assumed office on September 1, 1981, with T Venkateswara Rao of the Communist Party of India (CPI) as mayor. The second council, led by Jandhyala Shankar of the Congress party, held office from March 19, 1987, to September 8, 1992.

The first spell of Special Officer Rule was imposed from April 2, 1992, to March 29, 1995—nearly three years. Subsequently, the third and fourth elected councils were formed in 1995 and 2000, followed by a brief Special Officer Rule from March 30, 2005, to October 6, 2005. Another council, the fifth, governed from October 7, 2005, to October 6, 2010. Thereafter, the longest spell of Special Officer Rule—from October 7, 2010, to July 2, 2014—lasted nearly three years and nine months.

After the State’s bifurcation, a council led by TDP's Koneru Sridhar served from July 3, 2014, to July 2, 2019, followed by Special Officer Rule till March 17, 2021. The outgoing council, headed by YSRCP's Mayor Rayana Bhagya Lakshmi, assumed office on March 18, 2021, completing its term on March 17, 2026.