In the absence of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam councillors in the Corporation, the DMK and the AIADMK engaged in a war of words over the property tax scam at the council meeting, presided over by Mayor (in-charge) T. Nagarajan here on Friday.
Commissioner Gaurav Kumar, senior officers of the Corporation were present.
During the question hour, when the AIADMK councillor and council leader Solai Raja appreciated the TVK government for the swift progress in the case, DMK councillors, led by Jayaram, rose up demanding withdrawal of certain remarks.
When Mr. Solai Raja went on to say he was only mentioning about the speed at which the enquiry was on, the DMK members refused to listen. Amidst noisy scenes, Mr. Nagarajan directed the staff to switch off the microphones of all members.
“We all meet here once a month. All the officials are present. There are so many public issues which we can discuss,” he said.
Regarding the scam, he said the issue was in court and it would not be appropriate for anyone to discuss it now, following which normalcy was restored.
In his address, Mr. Jayaram said no officials attended phone calls of the councillors, especially, those from the DMK. In a threatening tone, he said the DMK would emerge victorious once again and pull up the officials.
But the Mayor (in-charge) intervened and said, “Let us talk politely. The officials are here to discharge their duties and keep the city clean.”
He went on appreciating Mr. Gaurav Kumar, who was present, and his team for their commendable works in tackling rain, especially, in pockets like Sellur.
During the question hour, when some of the members expressed concern over the recent attacks on some officers and demanded protection and action against the accused, the Commissioner said an inquiry was under way.
Mr. Solai Raja joined to say that recently a conservancy worker affiliated with the Viduthalai Chiruthai Katchi had lodged a complaint against a DMK councillor (Naganathan of ward 67) for having called him by caste name, following which the police registered a case under the PCR Act against the councillor.
The VCK councillor Muniandi (ward 71) said the case was under investigation.
In his response, the DMK councillor Naganathan said that he approached the court and proved that the case was foisted, with an ample evidence. The court, which heard the case, directed the Corporation authorities to take action against the worker for such baseless complaints and acquitted him.
When such was the reality, the VCK councillor’s statement that the case was under investigation was wrong and incorrect, he said.
The DMK councillor said that the party, which believed and practised social justice, had been wrongly blamed.
CPI(M) councillor Vijaya said that some TVK functionaries shot videos of the works under way in the city and posted them in social media as if it was the works done on their efforts.
The officials too cooperated with them. This was unfair and unfortunate, she said. Many DMK and AIADMK councillors endorsed this.
In a bid to put an end, Mr. Nagarajan said that anyone was welcome to raise issues concerning the public.
The AIADMK councillors led by Mr. Solai Raja demanded to know the reasons for the delay in retrieving the space rented out to a private hotelier adjacent to the Murugan Temple in the Rajaji Park. Though the issue was raised a few months ago and the officials too agreed to vacate, what stopped them from clearing the private hotelier.
Though there was no direct answer, the officials said that they had issued notice and promised to get it done soon.
Not satisfied, the AIADMK councillors said that when the property tax scam case was being probed at a good speed, what prompted the advocates representing the Corporation in not getting favourable orders to the civic body.
Mr. Jayaram also objected to the resolution on inviting tender for letting out the Tamukkum Grounds for selling crackers at the same rent fixed for the last Deepavali. He urged the Mayor (in-charge) and Commissioner to display the tenders prominently in newspapers than online.