Anantapur: Even as many opportunities to fashion Anantapur Municipal Corporation as a model in development arise, internal bickering between ruling party leaders has slowed down developmental activities, with even the ongoing ones being beset by obstructionism. Quarrelling between urban MLA V. Prabhakar Chowdary and Anantapur MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy was causing panic among the AMC officials and also other departments.

Both groups were objecting to work proposed by the other in Anantapur Municipal Corporation. Mr Diwakar Reddy, who earnestly worked out the funds required for road widening at the Old Town area in Anantapur, had to face objections from Prabhakar Chowdary and AMC mayor M. Swaroopa, their non-co-operation leading to the civic body passing a resolution not to take up the road widening process in the Old Town bazaar of the corporation.

Road over bridge work too came in for a difference of opinion after the Mayor and MLA refused to demolish rooms at a municipal shopping complex in Ramanagar. The MP had to attend the meeting at AMC and rai-sed the issue, but the MLA objected on the proposal to demolish the buildings. Work is currently under progress for the road over bridge at Ramanagar, a long pending proposal with the government.

A recent controversy to do with road dividers exposed the divide between leaders of the ruling party. The MP objected to road dividers on the grounds that the corporation was misusing funds by repeatedly laying them instead of concentrating on other development work. IT minister P. Raghunath Reddy intervened, convincing MP Diwakar Reddy to co-operate to complete the road divider work at Sapthagiri circle.

Divider work is being carried out currently while road widening at Old Town has stopped. The representatives reportedly failed to work out new schemes, such as an underground drainage system and improving the AMC's financial position.