Hyderabad, November 07: The race for the mayor’s seat has hotted up with corporators from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) indulging in hectic lobbying for the coveted post. The competition is equally keen for the deputy mayor’s post as Congress corporators flock to the offices of senior leaders to lobby for a seat. It may be recalled that MIM has submitted letters to the Chief Minister and the PCC president making it clear that the party wants the mayor’s post in accordance with the agreement between the Congress-MIM alliance.
The labour minister, Mr Danam Nagender, said the Congress will abide by its “mayoral seat agreement” with the MIM. However, he stirred a hornet’s nest when he said that the Congress will shortly take a decision on sharing the mayor’s seat for the “contentious third year”. The minister also said that the Congress may give the post of deputy mayor for one year each to two candidates so as to allow two candidates to serve in the post, and not confine it to one candidate as has been the case with MIM. Though the pact between the MIM and Congress was to share the mayor’s seat for two years each, with the candidate for the fifth and final year to be decided later, the letters submitted by the MIM to the Congress indicate that MIM expects to retain the post for the fifth year as well.
Among the MIM front runners are former mayor and present corporator, Mr Mir Zulfeqar Ali; deputy mayor Jaffar Hussain; former standing committee chairperson Yasmeena Sultana and Mohsin Balala, brother of MIM MLA Ahmed Balala. The GHMC secretary Mr M.S.S. Somaraju said a change of mayors can be effected only when the mayor resigns or through a no-confidence motion. But, under the GHMC Act, a no-trust cannot be moved against the mayor until the candidate completes four years in office.
—courtesy:DC