Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Andhra Pradesh spokesperson Y. Malakondayya and party leaders Duvvuri Subramanyam and Ch. Srinivas on Tuesday welcomed the resignations by the chairpersons of the Smart City Corporations of Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, and Eluru.
On Tuesday, the chairpersons of four Smart City Corporations—Alli Rajababu (Kakinada), G. Venkateswara Rao (Visakhapatnam), N. Padmaja (Tirupati), and B. Akhila (Eluru)— submitted their resignations to the State government.
In 2021, the BJP leaders lodged a complaint with the Mission Smart City Division of the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, seeking removal of the chairpersons of the four Smart City Corporations, alleging violation of the Smart City Mission (SCM) guidelines in their appointments.
SCM guidelines
In a directive to the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department (Andhra Pradesh) in December 2021, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Under Secretary Sabak Lal Prasad said, “The appointment of persons other than those stipulated in the guidelines as chairpersons of the Smart City Corporations of Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Tirupati is a clear violation of rules.”
The Hindu has a copy of a letter written to the State by Mr. Sabak Lal Prasad. “It is requested that corrective action may be taken in the matter in accordance with the SCM guidelines,” Mr. Lal Prasad directed the State government.
Mr. Subramanyam said that the chairperson of a Smart City Corporation should be the respective Collector or the Municipal Commissioner or the Chief Executive of the Urban Development Authority as decided by the State government.
“Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy appointed the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders as the chairpersons of the Smart City Corporations. We welcome the resignations,” said Mr. Subramanyam in a release.
The BJP leaders on Tuesday announced that they would intensify fight to expose the ‘irregularities’ in the Smart City projects undertaken in Kakinada.
