Yadgir City Municipal Council, where the BJP has a full majority, is now functioning without a president and vice-president, as municipal president Vilas Patil and vice-president Prabhavati Kalal resigned from their respective posts on Monday as per the directions of the party.
But, their resignations have not yet been accepted by the Deputy Commissioner who is waiting for the 10-day mandatory period before formalising the process.
At present, the BJP has 16 seats for a majority in the 31-member council. The Congress has 12 seats, the Janata Dal(S) two and there is an Independent also.
Mr. Patil and Ms. Kalal, who were elected on BJP ticket, took charge on October 29, 2020 as president and vice-president of the municipal corporation after receiving directions from the party to be in power for 15 months from the date of their assuming charge.
“I have served the people with the blessing of the party high command and MLA Venkatareddy Mudnal and completed my term. It is the party which will take further decisions to elect the next municipal president for the remaining 13 months,” Mr. Patil said.
Normally, in such a situation, the municipal vice-president will take charge if the Mayor’s post falls vacant but in Yadgir both the municipal president and vice-president have resigned at the same time and the decision of the party directing them to do so has come as a surprise to prominent members of the party here.
Meanwhile, after the episode of resignations ended, political activities gained momentum and fresh aspirants for the top posts are waiting for Mr. Mudnal, who is now attending the ongoing Assembly sessions, to make an announcement.
“The BJP is playing with the people of Yadgir city by keeping the two top posts vacant despite having a full majority in the municipal corporation. The municipal corporation should have presented a budget for 2022-23 this month. Where are the municipal president and vice-president to present the budget? How can officers, who are running the day-to-day administrative work now, alone present the budget?” Samson Malikeri, former vice-president of the municipal corporation and spokesperson of the Congress, told The Hindu.
“Mr. Mundal should understand the situation. We will launch agitations if the BJP delays electing members to the top posts,” he added.
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