HYDERABAD: Complete pandemonium marred budget (2024-25) session of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) council on Wednesday after fist-fighting between the members of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The session was held in Mehran Arts Council, Latifabad.

The conflict began when Mayor Kashif Ali Shoro started presenting the budget and PTI’s Babu Ilyas invited his attention to endorse the last session’s proceedings first. The mayor sidestepped his objection and Babu Ilyas kept raising different questions and termed the session illegal. This prompted PTI members to start protesting.

Likewise, PPP’s members also rose from their seats to counter their protest. Both sides kept raising their respective slogans of ‘Jeay Bhutto’ and ‘Jeay Imran’. A HMC staff member snatched mike from Babu Ilyas under mayor’s directive. Opposition members also shouted slogans of ‘qasimabad ka mayor na manzoor’.

Deputy Mayor Saghir Qureshi asked opposition to maintain decorum and listen to the chair. The mayor got the budget of Rs5.65bn approved amid pandemonium. Not only the budget but other 13 items on the agenda were also got approved by the mayor from the house one after another. Mr Qureshi also kept asking the mayor for a pause in his speech.

As PTI members continued their protests, some of them like, Azhar Shaikh, jumped to the stage where the mayor, along with the deputy mayor and municipal commissioner Zahoor Lakhan, was sitting. Shoro announced on mike to ‘remove Azhar from stage’. When Shaikh raised vociferous slogans against the mayor, PPP’s Bashir Leghari shoved him to the ground and hit him with the leg. Sheikh protested and pulled Leghari’s legs and he fell on the stage.

More PPP members joined Leghari to face aggressive PTI members. In the meantime, PTI’s Arzoo Mughal also reached the stage and spoke to the mayor angrily who remained seated calmly and asked her to behave. She removed flower work and tissue papers from table in a fit of pique. And another fight ensued as Shabana Khan reached the stage to physically keep Arzoo away from the mayor and Arzoo reached angrily by pushing her on the stage as women members from both sides joined the brawl. Such disorder continued for quite some time as PTI members sat in front of the stage in protest, tearing off budget copies.

Not only the PTI verses PPP fight, but PPP’s Ali Mohammad Sahito also had a cross talk with Mayor Shoro. He said that copies of budget were not provided to the members. He said that while the mayor was trying to perform, his office staff remained indifferent. He said that since the mayor has headed a municipal committee in the past, he must have gained experience how to get along with the members of such house and that had been the policy of the PPP everywhere.

He contended that the budget copies should have been given to the opposition. He criticised the members of two sides for the rumpus in the house and added that the opposition should have been taken into confidence.

He advised the mayor to change his strategy and had a competent team with him. The mayor took exception to Sahito’s remarks and said he should have avoided it, saying that if he (Sahito) had some personal grudge, he should speak to him. Shoro said the city had changed now as Rs900m were spent in Hyderabad city out of the HMC’s savings. Sahito clarified that he did not have any ill will against him. The mayor said that it was not 24-year-old Hyderabad where boats were operated during rains; now situation had changed.

Earlier, HMC’s income was assessed at Rs5.65bn in budget 2024-25 against expenditures Rs5.65bn with a surplus of Rs341,122. According to the mayor, this year the HMC aims to execute development works worth Rs1.70bn. He said that 52 works had been taken in hand and 29 of them were completed while the remaining were underway.

He allotted 10 minutes to the opposition so that anyone from them could express views on the budget.

Ilyas said the local government rules required the HMC to hold council session every month, but the session was not held. He urged the mayor to get past proceedings endorsed first instead of directly going for budget approval. Ilyas also wanted to know how Rani Bagh would be upgraded under public-private partnership (PPP) to which the mayor replied that the matter had already been decided.

The mayor said that HMC’s 100-year-old building would be reconstructed for which approval had been obtained and consultants were to be hired. A plan of building would be presented in the house by consultants for approval.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2024