GHMC Council passes ₹8,440 cr. budget proposals amid protests; BRS corporators removed en masse

Approval of GHMC's ₹8,440 crore budget amid chaos, protests, and removal of BRS corporators during a stormy council meeting.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s ₹8,440 crore budget proposals for the year 2025-26 got approval of the council without presentation and without discussion on Thursday during the daylong general body meeting which saw removal of Bharat Rashtra Samithi corporators en masse after raucous protests by them.

Conducted merely two days after collapse of a stormwater drain structure for a fourth time at Chaknawadi area of Goshamahal, the special budget session saw no mention of the incident by any corporator nor any discussion about the dilapidated state of the city’s age-old stormwater lines.

The meeting began on a rough note when BRS members started protesting over Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi’s announcement of budget presentation, demanding that question hour precede the budget presentation. They tried to storm the chair, only to be stalled by Congress corporators, who formed a ring around the podium.

Newly-elected MLCs M. Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan, who arrived for their first ever council meeting, left soon after, following the ruckus.

Several BRS members were seen holding placards demanding ‘Rythu Bharosa’ payments, which Congress members, including former deputy mayor Baba Fasiuddin, snatched and tore. Four BRS members were physically removed from the meeting hall upon the Mayor’s directions.

Unable to manage the situation, Ms. Vijayalakshmi announced the first adjournment within the first half an hour, but could not bring the house to order even after it was reassembled. She declared that the budget was deemed to have been passed, amid the melee.

After tea break, the BRS members resumed their protests, this time against removal of their colleagues from the hall. The meeting was adjourned thrice, before the Mayor exercised her discretionary powers for forcible eviction of all the BRS members by marshals. The members were reportedly detained by the police and kept at Ramgopalpet police station till the end of the session.