Mangaluru: The general body meeting of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) was adjourned 20 minutes after it began on Wednesday as Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party members walked out over the issue of construction of a market complex.

As half the Congress members did not turn up, there was no quorum after the BJP members walked out. CMC president Meenakshi Bannanje was forced to adjourn the meeting.

Raising the issue, Leader of the Opposition M.R. Pai said the CMC had prepared a blueprint of the market complex to come up in the place of the Visvesvaraya market complex.

It had also been included in the agenda of the meeting. But it had not been brought to his notice though he was a councillor from the ward. The councillors had not been taken into confidence, he said.

Ms. Bannanje said she would reply to all queries when the agenda was taken up. But this did not satisfy the BJP member. BJP members then began walking out of the meeting. While walking out, Mr. Pai warned that conducting a meeting without a quorum was illegal.

Ms. Bannanje then urged Mr. Pai to remain in the council and that she would reply to his queries. But her pleas made no impact on the BJP members. Ms. Bannanje then adjourned the meeting.

After about 15 minutes, Ms. Bannanje returned to the meeting hall and said that as the meeting had been adjourned, she directed the CMC Commissioner D. Manjunathaiah to brief the presspersons about the new market complex.

Mr. Manjunathaiah said the proposal for constructing the new market complex in the place of the Visvesvaraya market complex was first mooted in 2010 under public-private-partnership mode. The feasibility report was prepared in 2012.

Later, Ms. Bannanje said the lack of quorum was owing to some Congress councillors going out of the town and some others falling sick.