Hyderabad: Fight for the Greater
Hyderabad city Mayor post is threatening to mar the friendship
between ruling Congress and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
The Congress is apparently not ready to vacate the
Mayor seat at the end of the first two-year term on December 4
as per the agreement reached between the two parties after the
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections in 2009.
The MIM would then take its turn and nominate its
candidate as Mayor for the next two years. And, the Congress
would get the seat back in the final year of the five-year
term as both the parties do not have requisite strength of
their own in the 150-member civic body to stay in power.
However, the Congress is reluctant to honour the
agreement and is seeking to stick on to the Mayor seat for one
more year, much to the chagrin of the MIM.
"The MIM has asked us to vacate the Greater Hyderabad
Mayor seat as per our agreement. But we told them that the
party wants to continue in office for one more year," Andhra
Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana said.
He, however, assured MIM leader in the Assembly
Akbaruddin Owaisi that the Congress` decision would be
conveyed after a discussion with the Chief Minister and other
leaders.
Following the PCC president’s claim, Akbaruddin rushed
to the Chief Minister along with three of his party MLAs and
an MLC on Saturday and reportedly made it clear that the Congress
would have to honour the agreement to sustain the friendly
relations between the parties.
The CM, who enjoys a good rapport with the
MIM deputy chief, is said to have assured him that "there
should not be any problem" on the seat-sharing.
Now, the Congress is in such a dicey position that it
cannot afford to antagonise a key ally like MIM, given the
numbers game in the Assembly.
The Congress is unsure of its own strength in the
Assembly and it has to bank on the support of the seven-member
MIM as the principal opposition Telugu Desam Party is getting
ready to table a no-confidence motion against the government.
If the Mayor`s post is not vacated as promised, the MIM
may deny support to the Congress government, thereby pushing
it into jeopardy in case of a trial of strength.
Also, it could lead to withdrawal of MIM`s support in the
GHMC Council leading to the fall of the Congress in the civic
body as well.
Given the situation, the Congress will be forced to
honour its agreement with the MIM to save its power. It is
learnt that the Chief Minister gave an assurance to the
effect to the MIM delegation and said an official announcement
in this regard would be made "very soon".
PTI
