KAKINADA : Ending the nail-biting suspense, Sunkara Pavani has been elected Mayor of Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) after the Telugu Desam Party cleared her name on Saturday afternoon.
The party also nominated Kalabhima Sankara Sattibabu for the Deputy Mayor post who too was declared elected at the meeting convened for the election for the two posts.After they were sworn in, District Collector Kartikeya Mishra made Pavani, who was all smiles, sit in the Mayor’s chair which she did with a flourish and waved at the KMC council members who were also sworn in earlier in the day. She is the wife of Kakinada TDP president Sunkara Tirumala Kumar.
The KMC has been under the Special Officer’s rule since September 30, 2010. The elections were held for 48 of the total 50 divisions in the Municipal Corporation after the intervention of the High Court and results were announced on September 1. The TDP won 32 seats while the YSRC had to contend with just 10 divisions even as the BJP bagged three seats. Three independents won in the election.
The High Court deferred the election for two divisions as there were petitions pending before it against their creation.After Pavani’s name was cleared, dissidence in the TDP came to the fore. Makineedi Sesha Kumari, who won on TDP ticket from division No 38, hoped that she would be nominated for the coveted post. She openly expressed her resentment at the TDP .
Mayor aspirant breaks down
Though there were three other aspirants for the office of the Mayor, it was Sesha Kumari who was very much upset. Declaration of Pavani’s name as Mayor came as a shock to her and she broke down in the council hall itself, sobbing how the party had belied her at every stage of her public life though she had donated substantial amount of money to the party fund. The other two aspirants were S Siva Prasanna and Adduri Lakshmi Prasanna, but they bit the bullet and kept quiet. Sesha Kumari wanted to know how Pavani was better than her. However, the TDP corporator said she would not resign, come what may. “The people of my division have elected me. I will have to serve them,” she said.