Corporation councillors cutting across political affiliations registered their strong protest over keeping city Mayor Tony Chammany away from the events related to the visit of Prince Charles.
The Corporation Council also decided to register its protest to the state government in writing.
The Mayor was kept out of most of the programmes involving the royal guests including the airport reception.
The only event he got invited to, was the dinner organised by the Governor on Monday night. The Corporation, allegedly, was also kept in the dark regarding the royal itinerary.
The Council meeting on Tuesday witnessed acrimonious scenes with members belonging to the Opposition and ruling sides voicing displeasure towards the state government, for neglecting the Corporation.
Opposition leader K J Jacob set the ball rolling by stating that the disregard shown to the Mayor was tantamount to ridiculing the elected representatives of the Council. Councillors K R Premkumar and Thampi Subrahmaniyam said that the organisers of the visit ignored the Mayor, whereas a councillor from Aluva municipality was given a key role. Some councillors alleged that development initiatives meant for the city was hijacked by the Aluva municipality.
In his reply speech, the Mayor said that he was deeply saddened by the turn of events and promised that the sentiments of the Council will be conveyed to the state government.
The Mayor was also critical of the MoU signed with Aluva municipality by a UK-based firm, as part of Future Cities’ project, at an event graced by Prince Charles.
“The Corporation was not informed anything about the signing of the agreement. However, what we learn from reports is that the agency which signed the MoU did not have any provision to fund the proposed project for Aluva,” he said.
Tony Chammany said that no other Corporation in the state will be badly hit by climate change as Kochi would be in the coming years.
He also spoke out against the ‘private interests’ of some individuals who ‘influenced’ the course of the royal visit.
Some Councillors wanted to know whether the ‘Kerala Folklore Theatre & Museum’ was paying entertainment taxes to the Corporation.