VIJAYAWADA: The camp politics in the municipalities of Mydukur in Kadapa district and Tadipatri in Anantapur district is taking curious turns with the opposition and ruling parties trying to wrest the chairman seat. In Mydukur municipality, where the TDP won 12 wards and the YSRC 11 and remaining one by Jana Sena Party, the TDP alleged that one of their ward councillors was forcibly taken away by the ruling party leaders.
The YSRC has two ex-officio members in the form of Mydukur MLA S Raghurami Reddy and MP Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy. With this, the total number of votes go to 26 and 14 votes are needed to win the chairperson post. If the votes get tied, the chairperson post will be decided through a toss of coin.
With this, the vote of the JSP candidate became crucial and both the parties are reportedly trying to get the support of the candidate. Even as the efforts to woo the JSP candidate are going on, the TDP on Monday alleged that their sixth ward councillor, Mahbub Bee, was forcibly taken away by the police at the behest of the ruling party leaders.
“The YSRC is making a mockery of democracy by resorting to such acts. In spite of winning the majority of seats across the State, the YSRC does not even want to concede just two municipalities to the Opposition,’’ TDP Kadapa Parliamentary in-charge M Linga Reddy alleged. TDP sources said Mahbub Bee was whisked away while she was on her way to Proddutur where the TDP councillors were put in a camp.
Interestingly, the family members of the councillor did not lodge any complaint with the police. In the 36-seat Tadipatri municipality, where the TDP won 18 and YSRC 16 and two by others, both the sides are organising camps to keep their flocks together. The YSRC has two ex-officio votes here also and is trying to get the support of the two other members — a CPI councillor and a TDP rebel.
Meanwhile, TDP MLC G Deepak Reddy sought ex-officio member post in Tadipatri. A couple of YSRC MLCs also applied for ex-officio posts in the same municipality to wrest the municipality. The officials, however, refused to give ex-officio posts to neither the TDP nor the YSRC members.