The Opposition Janata Dal (Secular) in the Mandya City Municipal Council (CMC) is trying its best to kill two birds with one stone by taking advantage of the internal bickering in the ruling Congress party.
The Janata Dal (S) has issued whip to its members in the CMC asking them to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion against municipal president B. Siddaraju and vice-president Chandrakala Shivaram.
Breach of agreement
Mr. Siddaraju, a Congress member, who won as an Independent, and Ms. Shivaram, also a Congress leader, were elected president and vice-president of CMC, respectively, on September 17, 2013. While it had been agreed at the time of election that they would relinquish the posts after 18 months, the duo refused to keep its word. Therefore, supporters of Housing Minister M.H. Ambareesh have decided to move a no-confidence motion against them on May 14.
Support sought
The supporters of Mr. Ambareesh had recently sought the support of Janata Dal (S) members. Subsequently, c.S. Puttaraju, MP, and N. Cheluvaraya Swamy, MLA, convened a meeting with the Janata Dal (S) councillors here on Saturday and issued the whip. “The Janata Dal (S) will get a chance to share the power in CMC, get the posts of heads of standing committees and nominate workers to the Mandya Urban Development Authority (MUDA), if we help the Congress in removing Mr. Siddaraju and Ms. Shivaram,” Mr. Cheluvaraya Swamy told the Janata Dal (S) councillors.
All the councillors will get 4 copies of whip. The party has also issued whip through speed post, registered post and courier, according to Mandya Janata Dal (S) president D. Ramesh.
A.B. Rameshbabu Bandisidde Gowda, Srirangapatna MLA, and B. Ramakrishna, MLC, were present.
Major blow
Meanwhile, the party can punch a major blow to the Congress, increase the gap between the groups and strengthen its base here by supporting the no-confidence motion, a senior Janata Dal (S) leader, told presspersons.
Two groups
The Congress in Mandya district has been divided into two groups after the Legislative Assembly elections. While the leaders identified with the former External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna are supporting Mr. Siddaraju, those backing Mr. Ambareesh are trying to remove Mr. Siddaraju. The Mandya City Municipal Council has 15 Congress councillors, nine from the Janata Dal (Secular), one from the BJP and 10 Independents. Of them, 13 councillors had extended support to Mr. Siddaraju.
