Hyderabad: With the Congress deciding to take over the seat of mayor of Greater Hyderabad, the countdown has started for the exit of MIM’s Majid Hussain as the first citizen.
At a meeting on Tuesday headed by PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and attended by ministers from the city, Danam Nagender and M. Mukesh Goud, besides MLC Mohd Ali Shabbir, it was decided that the Congress would take the mayor’s seat for the fifth and final year of the term.
As per the GHMC Act, the mayor cannot be removed or a no confidence motion cannot be moved against the mayor until he or she completes three years in office. Hussain completed two years on January 4.
He will thus have to resign to make way for a Congress candidate to occupy the seat. To make this possible, the Congress has decided to make its first move by asking its Deputy Mayor, Raj Kumar, to resign from the post and to forward a letter to the MIM bosses (the Owaisi brothers) to vacate the mayor’s seat so that the parties can swap the mayor and deputy mayor’s seats.
When contacted, MLC Mohd Ali Shabbir of the Congress confirmed that they had decided to take over the mayor’s seat.
“As per the post-poll understanding between the Congress and MIM in GHMC, the Congress would take the mayor’s seat for the first two years and the MIM would occupy the deputy mayor’s post during the same period. The posts would be swapped with the MIM taking the mayor’s seat for two years, i.e. the third and fourth year, and the Congress would enjoy the deputy mayor’s seat. The mayor’s seat for the fifth and final year would be taken by the Congress. This was the written understanding between the two parties,” Shabbir said.
As per the understanding, Banda Karthika Reddy of the Congress had resigned after serving two years, making way for Majid Hussain of MIM to become the mayor. It is now to be seen whether Hussain resigns or not.
Sources, meanwhile, said that the MIM was in no mood to give up the mayor’s seat to the Congress in the fifth and final year that has already commenced. Leaders close to the Owaisi brothers said the agreement to share the mayor and deputy mayor’s seats for two years each was reached in the presence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and no decision had been taken on the fifth and final year. “If the Congress has a written agreement, let it produce it,’ said an MIM leader.
Party leaders said that the Congress would require the support of MIM in the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections and the Assembly and Parliament elections.
Though MIM leaders are sounding confident that the party might retain the mayor’s seat, Congress leaders are in no mood to let the matter go.
Hectic lobbying has already started for the post among Congress corporators. In the fray for the coveted post are former mayor Banda Karthika Reddy, Congress floor leader in GHMC Diddi Ram Babu, Hafeezpet corporator V. Jagadeeshwar Goud, M. Narasimha Yadav (Bowenpally), Md Ayub Khan (Sanathnagar) and M. Parameshwar Reddy (Ramanthapur) among others.
While MIM president and MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, and party floor leader in Assembly, Akbaruddin Owaisi, were not available for comments, Mayor Majid Hussain said he would abide by the party’s decision.
