Vested interest made mayor spew fire on HDMC chief

DHARWAD: Is mayor Radhabai Safare annoyed with HDMC commissioner Ajay Nagbhushan just because he did not heed her request to take up works in the wards suggested by her under the Rs 100-crore package?
The answer to that is `no', if sources in the civic body are to believed. It is not just the refusal of the commissioner to take up works in the wards for her outburst against him on Wednesday.
The mayor is said to be upset with the commissioner for sending a letter to the secretary, department of urban development, requesting him to annul a resolution passed by the HDMC general body.
The general body, had on January 16, 2009, passed a resolution proposed by councillor Vijayanand Shetty and seconded by another member Hoovappa Dayagodi. Shetty had moved a resolution seeking confirmation of the services of six persons working as sanitary inspectors on contract basis at HDMC. He had proposed that the services of Virupaksha Shirur, Manjunath N Safare, Javed K Raibag, Siddharoodha N Safare, Pundalik Yatanur and Santosh Hiremath, who were working as sanitary inspectors on contract basis for the last four years, be confirmed as HDMC employees when HDMC begins recruitment to the vacant posts. Radhabai Safare, who was presiding over the meeting, ordered that without waiting for the ratification, the officers concerned should send the proposal to the government to fill up the vacancies and do necessary correspondence with the government. The meeting passed the resolution (No. 251 dated January 16, 2009).
Nagbhushan has written a letter to the urban development secretary, requesting him to annul the resolution and conduct a detailed probe into the matter as the resolution was not in conformity with Section 72 of Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act (1976).
Nagbhushan has pointed out that Siddharoodha Safare and Manjunath Safare were the members of mayor Radhabai Safare's family (both are her sons). As such, there was no provision for Radhabai to vote or take part in the discussion of any matter in which she has direct or indirect interest. He said the action by Radhabai in getting the resolution passed would attract disqualification of membership as per KMC Act (1976) Section 26, 2(B) (1), and hence recommended that the resolution be annulled.
To prove that Siddharoodha Nandagopal Safare and Manjunath Nandagopal Safare are Radhabai Nandagopal Safare's family members, the commissioner has attached the voters' list of Hubli-Dharwad East (SC) assembly constituency. Both the names figure in the list of ward 43, Lattipet Horakeri Oni division (part 55, page 24/33), Hubli. The voter numbers of Manjunath and Siddharoodha are 643 and 644, respectively.