Hyderabad Mayor clarifies on her viral 'pray no rain for 5 years' remark

Newly-appointed Hyderabad mayor Gadwal R Vijayalakshmi on Tuesday clarified her earlier statement about the city not receiving rains for the next five years and said that it was distorted. Vijayalakshmi clarified that all she had meant to say was that the city should not be flooded again.  The Hyderabad Mayor during an interview with a reporter on Monday said, “I pray to god, that there should not be any rain for five years from now.”

She had made the statement when asked what assurances the Mayor can give to flood-affected families in Hyderabad, who suffered heavy losses during the floods in October 2020. The video clip of the interview had gone viral on social media, inviting ridicule.

In a statement to the media, Vijayalakshmi clarified that her statement was distorted. “All I meant to say was the city should not be flooded again.I did not want Hyderabad to have no rains," she said.

Barely a week into her appointment, Vijayalakshmi has also courted controversy over the removal of Shaikpet Tahsildar N Srinivas Reddy from his post. It is being alleged that the Tahsildar was shunted out and not given any new posting over an argument that broke out between the two on January 21.

Vijayalakshmi was voted in for the second time as the corporator for the Banjara Hills ward and had asked the Tahsildar to complete a task. However, the Tahsildar reportedly told the then corporator that he will be unable to do the work as he had to attend court that day. The corporator and her followers then went to the revenue office and allegedly did not allow Srinivas to attend court. Srinivas then filed a police complaint against Vijayalakhsmi and her followers, reported The New Indian Express.

Vijayalakshmi was appointed as Hyderabad’s Mayor on February 12. A day later, on February 13, Srinivas was removed from duty. It is alleged by Telangana Revenue Employees Services Association (TRESA) president Vanga Ravinder Reddy and general secretary K Goutham Kumar that the Mayor used her political influence to get the official removed. Vijayalakshmi is the daughter of senior TRS leader and Member of Parliament K Keshava Rao, who is known to be close to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.