Chennai Mayor R Priya has questioned the Greater Chennai Corporation’s coordination with elected representatives after alleging that she was not informed in advance about the Chief Minister’s review meeting at Ripon Building. The complaint triggered a wider confrontation at the GCC council meeting, where councillors also alleged that they were being excluded from official functions in their wards.
The issue was raised during the Corporation’s monthly council meeting on Thursday in the presence of GCC Commissioner GS Sameeran. Deputy Mayor Mahesh Kumar alleged that a renovated park in Saidapet had been inaugurated on Wednesday without informing either the zonal committee chairman or the ward councillor. He said only the local MLA had been invited to the event.
“Only the MLA was invited to the inauguration. Neither the zonal committee chairman nor the ward councillor was informed. Officials must function beyond politics,” Mahesh Kumar said, according to the report cited by DT Next.
Following his remarks, several councillors stood up and complained that they too had been left out of government functions in their respective wards. They sought an explanation from the Corporation Commissioner over the protocol followed for official programmes involving civic projects and public representatives.
Mayor Priya said her own exclusion from the Chief Minister’s meeting reflected the same problem. “It is not just the councillors. Even I face the same situation. Nobody informed me about the Chief Minister’s meeting at Ripon Building. But reports are circulating that I boycotted the meeting,” she said.
The Mayor questioned whether she was expected to remain at Ripon Building throughout the day if the timing of an official visit was not communicated to her. She also asked whether Corporation officials had received instructions to keep elected council members away from official events.
“If the Chief Minister is visiting, shouldn’t I be informed about the timing? Am I expected to stay at Ripon Building from morning till night?” Priya said during the meeting.
“If officials are unwilling to cooperate with the Corporation, dissolve it and let the officials conduct the meetings themselves,” she added.
The exchange points to a coordination dispute between the elected municipal wing and the administrative machinery responsible for implementing civic decisions. In a municipal corporation, ward councillors and zonal committee representatives are directly connected to local areas where public works are inaugurated and reviewed. Their exclusion from such events has therefore become a procedural and political issue within the council.
Deputy Mayor Kumar said the Mayor had attended an event involving the Prime Minister after receiving an invitation. He added that she would similarly attend the Chief Minister’s programme if she was invited according to protocol.
The latest confrontation follows an earlier dispute over Priya’s absence from rain-preparedness inspections and review meetings. Priya had alleged that the State government was ignoring her because she belonged to the DMK. School Education Minister Rajmohan rejected the allegation, saying that she did not require a formal invitation to visit Ripon Building and that he had already spoken to her.
Priya had earlier said that she was informed about some visits to Ripon Building only after they had taken place, despite being engaged in inspections elsewhere. She said advance communication would have allowed her to attend.
The council meeting did not resolve whether specific instructions had been issued to exclude the Mayor, councillors or zonal representatives from official functions. The Corporation Commissioner was asked to explain the protocol and coordination arrangements raised by the councillors.
