Congress unleashes hooliganism to defeat no confidence motion in Yellandu

It might be recalled that 19 BRS, CPI and independent councillors had served a notice to the district Collector on January 11 moving a no confidence motion against the municipal chairman who joined the Congress during Assembly elections along with three other councillors.

Kothagudem: Tension prevailed in Yellandu as scenes of utter hooliganism unfolded during the floor test against Yellandu municipal chairman Dammalapati Venkateshwar Rao on Monday.

It might be recalled that 19 BRS, CPI and independent councillors had served a notice to the district Collector on January 11 moving a no confidence motion against the municipal chairman who joined the Congress during Assembly elections along with three other councillors. District Collector Dr Priyanka Ala convened a special meeting on Monday for the floor test and appointed RDO Sirisha as the returning officer. Of the 24 councillors in the municipality, a quorum of 17 councillors was required to vote in favour of no confidence motion.

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Prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in the town in view of the floor test. However, Congress workers gathered at the municipal office in large numbers creating tension. Former MLA B Haripriya complained that the police failed to ensure safety of the councillors and accused Congress leaders of kidnapping 3rd ward councillor K Nagesgwara Rao. In fact, Yellandu MLA K Kanakaiah and his followers were seen forcibly taking the councillor away from the council office in a bid to foil the floor test.

Congress workers also damaged the windows of the MPDO office where Haripriya and Nageswara Rao hid themselves. On the other hand, 23rd ward CPI councillor K Ravinder was allegedly beaten up and taken away by party workers from the council office. The party district secretary Sabir Pasha reached Yellandu early in the morning to see that the party councillor would not vote in favour of the no confidence motion. However, in a statement later in the day, Ravinder maintained that he did not attend the floor test voluntarily following the party decision and denied reports that he was prevented from attending the meeting.

The returning officer informed the media that no confidence motion was defeated as the required quorum was not met and only 15 councillors were present at the floor test. Meanwhile, councillor Nageswara Rao’s wife Venkatamma and daughter Saritha staged a protest at the municipal office demanding police to bring him back to the town. It was learnt that when the police telephoned Nageswara Rao, he told them that he was safe and no one had kidnapped him.