Din in Corporation Council meeting

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Corporation Council meeting on Tuesday that began on a unified note with the councillors holding hands, expressing their angst over the Mullaperiyar issue, ended in a fiasco after the UDF and the LDF members got engaged in mudslinging over the lack of facilities for Sabarimala pilgrims arriving in the city.Interestingly, the BJP, which introduced the matter in the Council, remained a mute witness to the whole din.It was a resolution introduced by BJP councillor P Asok Kumar that set the mood for a tussle. He said that "the UDF government has not arranged any facilities, as promised, for the pilgrims. The Attukal temple premises, where the facilities were promised, are a mess. There are not enough toilet facilities for the thousands arriving, parking facilities are restricted to less than 500 buses, there are no signboards showing directions, there are no guards to direct the pilgrims’."The Corporation had taken the initiative to arrange the facilities and in the meeting held in this regard, the departments had promised to set up all necessary arrangements. But the UDF government has failed to keep its word,’’ he said.To this, the UDF side raised a hullabaloo, saying the BJP was siding with the LDF to tarnish the image of the government. What did the Corporation do to meet the situation, they asked.However, the twist in the tale came when Attukal councillor Jayan stood up to say that what the BJP councillor said was true. "Devaswom Minister V S Sivakumar is a showman and his arrivals to review the situation at Attukal could be viewed as a party programme only. They did not alert me, who is the ward councillor, or even the Trust members on the Minister’s visits. The Congress is not genuine over the issue and is not concerned about providing any facilities,’’ he said.This added to the pandemonium and the issue got deviated to another plane with the UDF alleging that Asok Kumar was interfering in matters not coming under his ward. Though the Attukal councillor, who belongs to the LDF, came to Asok Kumar’s rescue, the Fort ward councillor (the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple comes in the Fort ward), who obviously rose to speak against him, was not allowed the mike by the Chair.Sreerekha, another UDF councillor who rose to speak, was also asked to sit down by the Mayor, saying that no more discussion would be allowed on the topic.This infuriated the UDF camp, whose members left their seats and took to sloganeering in front of the Mayor’s seat. The LDF members too followed suit, and gave them tough competition. The BJP members, however, remained in their seats.Amidst the din, the Chairpersons read out the numbers of their respective agendas and got it passed by the LDF members. The Council was adjourned soon after. Though the BJP councillors could be heard raising protest against the way the agendas were being passed, the damage was already done.After the Council got dispersed, the UDF members began a sit-in in front of the Mayor’s room and senior Front leaders spoke. They said that the UDF members were not allowed to speak in the Council as the LDF wanted certain things to remain hidden from the media.