Mayor M Anilkumar
KOCHI: The council meeting of the Kochi corporation on Saturday turned chaotic as the United Democratic Front (UDF) councillors boycotted the meeting, demanding the resignation of Mayor M Anilkumar over the Brahmapuram fire accident.
The Opposition councillors staged a protest at the council hall while the mayor dissolved the meeting after passing the agenda, triggering slogans against him from the Congress councillors. “We will only cooperate with the council after the mayor resigns. A no-confidence motion notice has been submitted to the collector against the mayor,” said UDF Opposition leader Anthony Kureethara.
The corporation has witnessed several protests from the UDF since the fire accident. The UDF councillors also claimed that the finance committee’s note of dissent was not recorded in the agenda, leading to a further commotion.
Mayor Anilkumar criticised the UDF members for their behaviour and said that the corporation was unaware of the sub-contract awarded by Zonta Infratech for the biomining project at Brahmapuram. However, he admitted that Venkit, a native of Kochi who said that he had taken the sub-contract in biomining, had visited him regarding passing a bill.
“The corporation cannot take any actions against Zonta as KSIDC awarded the work,” he said.
