Belgaum Mayor under fire for not welcoming CM

Express News

Belgaum, 12 October 2011: Mayor Manda Balekundri is no stranger to controversies.

 

Already under fire for her controversial stances on Karnataka-Maharashtra border and civic reception to Jnanpith award winner Chandrashekhar Kambar, Manda is in the eye of a fresh storm.

 

She has come in for severe criticism for not being present to welcome Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda who visited the city on Monday for the first time after taking charge as chief minister.

 

The attitude of the mayor irked pro-Kannada organisations and even the corporators who voted her to power. They urged her to apologise to the people of the state and tender her resignation.

 

The pro-Kannada organisations also described Manda as ‘not fit’ for mayoral post and that she insulted people of the state by not welcoming the Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.

 

The organisations wanted MLAs Feroz Sait and Abhay Patil to clarify matter on behalf of Manda as they were responsible for electing her to the post. However, Manda told The New Indian Express that she was not a part of the welcome committee as no protocol was maintained. She said, she would have welcomed the chief minister if had he arrived at Sambra Airport.

 

But the CM flew to Hubli and came to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha by road. The Soudha is not the Belgaum City Corporation jurisdiction, she said. But, the mayor did not meet the chief minister who was in city for about six hours.

 

The chief minister held an official meeting at Belgaum Zilla Panchayat in the afternoon and participated in his party programme in the evening. Gadinadu Kannada Sene described mayor’s clarification as shameful and she proved again that ‘’she is not capable of holding her position’’.

 

Organisation president Sayyad Mansur told that Kannada and Urdu corporators should introspect on electing her as she "switched her loyalty to Maharashtra’’.

 

Kannada Organisations Action Committee President Ashok Chandaragi expressed similar views.

 

Former Mayor NB Nirwani said that he will take up the issue in the BCC council meeting.

 

He also said that she indulged in language politics and she has not yet come out of the pro-Maharashtrain mentality. It can be recalled as Manda refused to welcome the chief minister, to maintain the dignity of the city, a group of about 25 corporators headed by deputy mayor Dhanaraj Gavali along with others welcomed the chief minister when he turned from a programme organised at Mahatma Gandhi Bhavan on Monday evening.

 

Last month, Manda had been in a controversy as she failed to pass a resolution to accord civic reception to Kambar.

 

Mayor Manda Skips Valmiki Jayanti Celebrations, Veerajyoti Reception

 

Though invited, Mayor Manda Balekundri did not attend the birth anniversary celebrations of Maharshi Valmiki and the programme to welcome Kittur Rani Channamma Veerajyoti which arrived in Belgaum from Khanapur on Tuesday.

 

Mayor Manda was supposed to conduct a pooja to the portrait of Valmiki before inauguration of a procession at Ashok circle in front of the Fort.

 

DC Ekroop Caur, District Minister Umesh Katti, MP Suresh Angadi, MLAs Prakash Hukkeri, Abhay Patil and Feroz Sait were present.

 

In the mayor’s absence, DC Ekroop conducted the pooja. It was a practice that mayor receives Veerajyoti every year. Mayor Manda was in the city without official assignments, but remained absent disappointing people who gathered.