Retired District Coordinator of Health Services Guguloth Papa Lal, the TRS corporator from division two, has been unanimously elected as the first Mayor of Khammam Municipal Corporation (KMC), the post which was reserved for ST (General).
Widespread protests by ruling TRS corporator D. Rammurthy Naik, a strong aspirant for the Mayor’s post, and his supporters preceded it.
B. Murali, TRS corporator from division 24, has been elected unopposed as the Deputy Mayor of the KMC at a special meeting of the newly-elected corporators held here on Tuesday.
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Barring Mr. Rammurthy Naik, the remaining 49 corporators including 33 of the TRS, 10 of Congress, two each of the CPI, the CPI (M) and YSR Congress took oath in the special council meeting, official sources said.
Protests
Earlier, chaotic scenes were witnessed at the TRS office an hour before the election as the followers of Mr. Naik entered into a verbal duel with the local leaders seeking an explanation for allegedly denying the Mayor post to their leader.
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A woman protester alleged that new entrants from other parties were given plum posts at the cost of the loyal TRS cadres, who were actively associated with separate Telangana movement.
She expressed ire over local leaders for causing severe injustice to Mr. Naik for their “selfish political interests”.
Tension mounted in front of the ruling TRS office when the followers of Mr. Naik made a vain bid to stop the bus carrying the TRS corporators to KMC office in the morning.
The police swiftly shifted Mr. Naik and his followers to Two Town police station.
Swearing-in ceremony
Meanwhile, the swearing in ceremony of the newly-elected corporators and the indirect election to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts went off smoothly under the aegis of Collector D.S. Lokesh Kumar, District Election Authority, and direct supervision of the Election Observer K. Ilambarithi.
Minister for Roads and Buildings T. Nageswara Rao and others attended the meeting.