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Ruckus mars Mayor?s oath-taking ceremony
THE Swearing-in ceremony of the 27th elected body of the Allahabad Nagar Nigam was marred due to ruckus created by Samajwadi Party corporators here on Thursday. The ceremony was disrupted for over 45 minutes because of the ruling party members' drama that caused reaction from Congress leaders during the function. Ironically, the unwarranted incident took place in the presence of hundreds of dignitaries from different walks of lives .
THE Swearing-in ceremony of the 27th elected body of the Allahabad Nagar Nigam was marred due to ruckus created by Samajwadi Party corporators here on Thursday.
The ceremony was disrupted for over 45 minutes because of the ruling party members' drama that caused reaction from Congress leaders during the function.
Ironically, the unwarranted incident took place in the presence of hundreds of dignitaries from different walks of lives, who were invited by the NN administration as guests on the occasion.
The drama started soon after Mayor Chaudhry Jitendra Nath Singh took oath. According to tradition, divisional commissioner RN Tripathi administered the oath. Mayor as per arrangement requested all corporators to take oath on their seats but it was opposed by the Samajwadi Party corporators.
The SP corporators stood up and said they would not take oath together and every corporator should be called on right side of the stage for the purpose.
Accepting their demand, the administration changed the arrangement. The proceeding went off peacefully till completion of oath taking by corporators from ward number 1 to 40. Later, the SP corporators along with party supporters climbed up the stage forcibly and disturbed the proceeding.
They shouted slogan slogans "Mulayam Singh Yadav Zindabad" and "Samajwadi Party zindabad". Consequently, Congress workers retaliated with slogans against the Samajwadi Party. Entire pandal witnessed anarchy, prompting the commissioner to intervene into the matter.
Hundreds of VIP guests and senior leaders started leaving the venue due to chaos. Disappointed over the incident, the Mayor went back to his chamber.
Police officials rushed to the spot and pushed away the SP and the Congress workers from the stage. However, the SP workers and corporators sat on ground, protesting against police' behaviour.
Ultimately, the commissioner used his skills to pacify the corporators and supporters of both the parties. He urged them to take their seats so that further proceedings could be taken up.
The Mayor once again came to pandal and administered oath to the remaining corporators.
On the other hand, the agitated Congress workers boycotted the remaining proceedings and took out a march to protest against the behaviour of the Samajwadi Party corporators.
Senior Congress leaders like Anil Shashtri, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Ram Poojan Patel, Ram Nihor Rakesh, Shyam Surat Upadhyaya, who came to participate in the ceremony were seen amazed over the developments. The Congress has only nine corporators while the Samajwadi Party has 27 in the new House.
Mayor Chaudhry Jitendra Nath Singh took oath in Hindi. Former Mayor Dr KP Srivastava handed over the traditional silver mace to him. NN officers welcomed the new Mayor with a special heavy garland on the occasion. Municipal commissioner Satya Narayan Srivastava conducted the proceeding.
