Pune: The general body of the Pune Municipal Corporation on Thursday approved the implementation of the bicycle policy (sharing scheme), and public health and sanitation by-laws 2017 in a special meeting amid strong protest from the opposition leaders, demanding a detailed presentation.
There was chaos during the voting, in which the BJP corporators voted in favour of both the projects. The opposition parties, including the NCP, Congress and the Shiv Sena, claimed that the proposals were approved improperly and without following the required procedures.
The NCP's Chetan Tupe and Congress's Arvind Shinde demanded re-discussion on both the proposals in the next one week. Else, the parties would submit a demand of reconsideration of the proposals, the leaders said.
Mayor Mukta Tilak said she was in favour of holding a discussion in the general body because both the proposals were important for the city. "The special general body meeting was called to hold detailed discussions and to seek opinions of the corporators. But the opposition parties resorted to agitation for no reason, disrupting the proceedings. There was no need to bring politics in the discussion," she said.
The chaos started even before the discussion on both the issues began. Shinde raised objection about a meeting held at the mayor's bungalow and demanded clarification from her on why the presentation on the cycle policy was held only for the BJP corporators and not for those from other parties. He also alleged chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' intervention in pushing the policy for getting an approval of the general body bases on the strength of the BJP's majority.
Tupe demanded adjournment of the general body meeting and rescheduling it for the next week.
He also sought a presentation on the cycle policy for the corporators from other parties by the administration.
Amid the arguments, Sena leader Sanjay Bhosale tried to remove the ceremonial wand (sceptre) of the mayor from its place with the NCP's Mahendra Pathare. Other corporators brought it back.
Leader of the house Shrinath Bhimale said the behaviour of the opposition parties' leaders was unexpected, especially when crucial issues were up for discussion. He claimed that all the corporators of the BJP were present for the discussion and voting.
