Electorate anxious over effectiveness of new council

By Feroze Ahmed

CHENNAI, OCT. 10. The recent stand-off between the elected council and the bureaucracy in the Chennai Corporation has left the electorate confused and cast its shadow on the local bodies polls.

Ripon Building felt the tremors of a `power struggle' between the Government-backed Commissioner, Mr. J. T. Acharyulu, and the Mayor, Mr. M. K. Stalin, after the AIADMK took over at Fort St.George.

The events have left the electorate anxious about the effectiveness of an elected council if it is not favourable to the Government, especially as the local bodies polls are associated with a strong flavour of civic issues.

Post Assembly elections, the DMK-majority Corporation council saw an apparent shift in power as the minority AIADMK Front adopted the posture of a majority. Political gesturing from both sides resulted in deteriorating civic conditions, though Corporation officials maintained that works were being carried out.

The Corporation has also not held its periodical joint committee meetings_chaired by the Mayor_with the CMDA, Metrowater and the Slum Clearance Board since the change of Government. ``In this context, it would be better to have a Mayor from the ruling party, whichever it is,'' a senior bureaucrat said.

Recalling the recent events, Mr. C. V. Malayan (DMK), leader of the council, said, ``According to the MCMC Act, the Commissioner stands above the Mayor, but any work has to be ratified by him. This was not done after the change of power.''

``The Government should not interfere with the functioning of the local bodies,'' he added. However, Mr. R. S. Bharathi, chairman, Alandur Municipality, attributed the rift to a combination of factors including a change of Government and the tendency of officials to play safe before a change of guard.

``I have faced no problem in this municipality,'' he said, adding that the officials are likely to coordinate with the elected councillors whichever party they belonged to.

Mr. P. Vetrivel, leader of the Opposition, said the Corporation faced a similar position at the beginning of its present tenure, when officials did not want to share power with the newly-elected councillors. The present showdown was due to the Mayor ``who did not want to cooperate with the Government'', he said.

Both Mr. Vetrivel and Mr. Bharathi pointed out that the elected council enjoyed powers above the bureaucracy, which had only an executing authority.

Cutting across party lines, many incumbent councillors said the present stand-off was temporary and the Corporation would function smoothly irrespective of which party won a majority in the civic polls.

However, they added that the Corporation faced a real threat if the Mayor and the majority in the council came from different parties. ``The Mayor, councillors and the officials have to interact at different levels. Politics has to be pushed to the background if civic activities have to be carried out,'' they said.

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