Mayor, his team return after a vain trip to Chennai

By Govind D.Belgaumkar

BANGALORE, AUG. 29. Lack of purpose and casual approach, marked the visit to Chennai by an unprepared team of the City councillors, led by the Mayor, Mr. Ramachandrappa, and some of their "friends." The team returned here on Monday evening with "humiliating" experiences.

The team left here for Chennai by air on Friday to pressure the Tamil Nadu Government to secure the release of film star, Mr. Rajkumar, and to inspect the site selected for installing the statue of poet Sarvajna.

According to sources, the team, which decided to meet the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. M.Karunanidhi, not only did not fix an appointment with him, but also it did not carry a memorandum with it. The delegation did not have the official letter pad of the Mayor. An empty letterhead was faxed from here, and the team prepared a memorandum at the hotel.

When the delegation went to the office of the Chief Minister, it found that he was out of station. The memorandum was submitted to a staff member of his secretariat, contrary to established norms. According to convention, the Mayor should meet the head of the State and submit a memorandum to him or her.

When the delegation went to the office of Tamil weekly, Nakkeeran, to call on Mr. R.R.Gopal, the latter asked the team to come the next day. It reportedly drew a blank when it tried to meet the Mayor of Chennai, Mr. M.K.Stalin. Interestingly, some of the "friends" of the delegation met Mr. Stalin at a marriage reception close to the hotel.

The next two days were spent by the delegation in Mahabalipuram. The councillors returned to Chennai on Monday morning when they met Mr. Gopal (before which the team members were frisked). They also inspected the place where Tamil Nadu Government proposed to erect the statue of Sarvajna.

Although the delegation members spent from their pocket, the sources said they had submitted bills for reimbursement. The councillors who accompanied the Mayor included, Mr. Gangabyraiah, Leader of the Opposition, Mr. P.R.Ramesh, Leader of the House in BMP Council, Mr. Padmanabha Reddy, Mr. Muniraju and Mr. N.L.Narendrababu.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : 'Rs.550 cr. more required for completing
           Hemavathy projects'
Next     : Information vital in e-economy: Aziz Premji