In a jolt to the sitting Vice President of Secunderabad Cantonment Board, J Ramakrishna from TRS, two of his own party members have moved a no-confidence motion against him. The reason? Ramakrishnan, allegedly, has not abided by the memorandum of understanding, which said he will vacate the post in April for one of his party men Maheshwar Reddy, that was signed when he took over as VP.
Speaking to TNM, Maheshwar Reddy said, “We had signed a Memorandum of Understanding and supported him as the Vice President, in that agreement, the understanding was that he should step down on April 28 and give a chance to the others. However, he has failed to abide by it.”
The rebels have claimed that the Vice President did not stick to his pre-agreement of vacating the seat and giving it to ward number 1 member (Bowenpally) – J Maheshwar Reddy – who also belongs to the TRS. Three elected members Keshava Reddy (ward number II), B Anitha Prabhakar (ward member III) both from TRS, and P Bhagyasree (ward number VII) from the Congress, handed over the petition of the no-confidence motion to SCB Chief Executive Officer, SVR Chandrashekar.
Maheshwar Reddy claimed that he has support of three others for now and is confident of dethroning the Vice President.
“It’s been more than three months since he has refused to resign, we have been patiently waiting to ensure that the party’s image doesn’t get damaged, but he insists of continuing in the post. He’s now asking what wrong he has done. That’s not the point, if there was an agreement earlier, you have to value it,” Maheshwar Reddy said.
Maheshwar further alleged that Ramakrishna had shown interest only in creating groupism and playing politics, neglecting the development works in the Cantonment.
“The development works were neglected. The residents of Cantonment are suffering because of his wrong priorities,” Maheshwar alleged.
However, Ramakrishna has denied any such pre-agreement, and said, “There was no such agreement. Some people want to be elevated and can’t even wait for the party to take the decision. For their political aspirations and vested interests they have moved the no-confidence motion.”
According to him, the TRS ward members had a meeting with the party leaders to settle the conflict.
“These people are not heeding to party’s advice. Based on my performance, the party had refused to entertain their plea. Since the party had snubbed their request, they have resorted to moving a no-confidence motion against me,” Ramakrishna said.
He further stated that he will comfortably sail through this crisis. “I have support of four TRS members. Keshava Reddy was earlier with the BJP, now he is cozying up with the Congress. We have doubts over his loyalty. We can easily win the trust vote,” he claimed.
Soon, the SCB President will convene a meeting and the voting will take place. To win the trust vote, the magic figure is 6. TRS had won 6 seats out of the 8 seats in the last elections.
The tenure of these representatives will end in January, 2020.