Mangaluru City Corporation council meeting ends abruptly over property tax issue
Mangaluru: The monthly meeting of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) council came to an abrupt end on Thursday after pandemonium over a matter related to the steep hike in property tax for 2024-25.
Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur adjourned the House twice owing to the ruckus, as both the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress councillors engaged in shouting slogans and blaming the other for the hike.
The Mayor did not return to the House after the second adjournment. At the same time he did not make it clear whether the meeting was postponed or will be re-convened. Eventually, the BJP councillors went out of the hall. The Congress councillors and officials who waited for the Mayor for some time later went out. Later, the Congress councillors staged a protest outside the council hall for some time and left.
The commotion started as soon as the House met. The BJP councillor Sangeetha R. Nayak began to speak on the property tax issue. Immediately, the Leader of the Opposition T. Praveenchandra Alva and other councillors of the Congress rushed to the Well of the House holding placards and shouting slogans against the BJP for hiking the property tax. They demanded that the property tax be reduced. As there was commotion the Mayor adjourned the meeting for the first time.
When the House met again after some time, the Mayor announced that the decisions taken in last month’s meeting of the council had been ratified. It included a 3% hike in property tax based on the guidance value of properties fixed by the government for 2021. The January meeting unanimously approved the hike in property tax with the Congress councillors not raising any objection.
As the Congress councillors continued their protest in the Well, the BJP councillors too shouted slogans against the Congress holding placards against them. Then the Mayor who left the House did not return.
The Congress councillors condemned the Mayor for leaving the meeting abruptly without clarity.
