The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Council on Tuesday saw heated debate on the naming of a park in the heart of the city for which objections came from the erstwhile royal family.
It transpired that the MCC Council had sometime ago passed a resolution to name the park close to the Mysuru palace after the late actor Vishnuvardhan.
But the council on Tuesday was apprised of the objections to the MCC resolution by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar who had questioned the legality on the grounds that the park in question was disputed property and the issue was pending in court.
A section of the BJP councillors wanted the issue to be adjourned for a future date, conducting a spot verification and rescinding the decision, if necessary. But Congress councillor and former Mayor Ayub Khan pointed out that there was no provision under the law for a resolution once passed in the council to be revoked, and questioned the stance of the BJP members.
In the debate that followed, a section of the councillors from the Janata Dal (Secular) pointed out that the property was being maintained by the MCC and there was no objection when major repairs and UGD/stormwater drain works were undertaken in 2004.
Mr. Khan said the objections as read out from a letter by Ms. Wadiyar cannot be taken on face value if there were no legal documents to back her claims.
Deputy Mayor G. Roopa, who chaired the council in the absence of the Mayor, also read out a letter from the palace board which stated that 18 acres of land around the palace was disputed and it would be in the fitness of things. Ms. Roopa also read out a letter from the office of the Deputy Commissioner stating that that it should be kept in the loop on any issue pertaining to land around the palace and it would be in fitness of things for the council to reconsider the decision.
As the councillors argued for and against revoking the council decision, Ms. Roopa announced that the matter would be listed for discussion in the next meeting. She also said that the council decision and the objections would be forwarded to the government as per the procedure for it to take a call.
