Dharwad: A ruckus was created at the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation General Body (HDMC GB) meeting on Tuesday which the city has never seen before.
Reports claim that when the HDMC GB session was about to start, Congress corporators carrying buckets, tumblers, and pots blocked the mayor’s way, demanding a solution to the drinking water problem that has been affecting citizens for months.
This elicited an angry response from the BJP corporators, who engaged in verbal altercations with Congress members. Then, a chaotic scene unfolded as the two factions began pushing each other, and Congress corporator Suvarna Kallakuntla from ward number 59 fell down and hurt her hand. Another Congress member, Kavita Kabber, was also injured in the altercation.
Suvarna was brought to the district hospital, where she was taken in as an inpatient after they conducted CT scans on her, reported the Congress corporators.
( Congress and BJP corporators raising slogans against each other)
Doraj Mannikuntla, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the House, mentioned they were demonstrating peacefully, and as a part of the protest, “we blocked the path, but it was the BJP corporators who pushed so hard that two of our corporators got hurt,” he said.
Imran Yaligar, a Congress corporator, claimed that their intention was to give the mayor a chance to carry out GB, “However we wanted to greet him with pots as a form of protest and arranged to obstruct his way for a few minutes, but it was the BJP corporators who lost their temper and began pushing the protesting members.”
He also asserted that when the Congress members criticized the severity, the mayor or HDMC Commissioner stayed quiet, and regardless of numerous requests that the mayor should postpone the meeting for a while since the female corporator had experienced injuries, he only did so for 10 minutes.
“When the meeting resumed, we firmly requested that the drinking issue should be taken as the top priority, yet the mayor disregarded this and postponed it. When the meeting was resumed again, we asked for the same thing, however this time he forced us out by using marshals,” said Yaligar.
Mayor refutes Congress party claims
Mayor Iresh Anchatgeri informed the Hubli Express that the manner in which they protested was wrong. He asserted no one should stop or block the mayor from entering the conference hall and that he requested the Congress corporators to discuss the matter at length, yet they didn’t listen and began their protest.
He countered their claims by saying that if they had cooperated, the issue would have been taken as the priority. He further added that they were ready to discuss all the issues, yet the Congress corporators had no issues and their goal was to disrupt the meeting. They stayed silent when the situation was severe, now the situation is better and the problem has almost been solved, yet now they are causing the disturbance.
Mayor Anchatgeri claimed that no one from Congress had ever consulted him about the water supply situation, in the past or now. He also claimed that a few Congress corporators attacked BJP corporators Bharati and Durgamma Bijawad with a pot, causing the two to be hospitalized. Anchatgeri argued that it was the Congress members who initiated the altercation and not the other way around.
A Congress member mentioned they are planning to file a legal complaint against the BJP councillors for “inflicting harm and injury, and also for committing an assault with the purpose of disgracing the female Congress HDMC member.”
“Injured Suvarna” found protesting: Mayor
Mayor Anchatgeri has released a video, in which Corporator Suvarna staging a protest after the uproar in the house. He asked how a “severely injured” person takes part in a protest.
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