Ahead of elections to statutory committees in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the ruling Shiv Sena renominated Yashwant Jadhav as standing committee chairman, but failed to renominate Dilip Lande as the improvement committee chairman.
Courting controversy
Mr. Lande had courted controversy when he allowed the deletion of certain reserved plots in the city on the grounds that they had been encroached upon. It was later revealed that Mr. Lande had a house near one of the reserved plots. “That has nothing to do with this nomination. We have changed chairpersons in the BEST and education committees as well. It is a routine process,” Mr. Jadhav said.
As the BJP is not sharing power with the Sena in the BMC, the Sena is free to nominate its members as chairpersons. They are expected to be elected unopposed on Wednesday.
After the BMC elections in 2017, the Sena had emerged as the single largest party, followed by the BJP. Though the BJP supported the Sena, it did not seek any power or stake any claim to plum posts. The BJP said it would act as a watchdog in the BMC and on numerous occasions the two parties had disagreements over issues.
After striking an alliance in the State, it was rumoured that the BJP might seek a piece of the pie in the BMC as well. Since the tenure of all committee chairpersons ends in April, elections are slated to be held in the coming weeks. But the BJP has made it clear that it will continue to play the role of a watchdog.
The Sena has renominated existing standing committee chairman Mr. Jadhav and nominated Anil Patankar to BEST committee and Anjali Naik to the education committee. It also nominated Sadanand Parab as improvement committee chairman instead of Mr. Lande. While the four have filed nominations, with the BJP not staking claim to power, they will be elected unopposed.
‘Watchdog function’
Manoj Kotak, the BJP leader in the BMC, was present during the nominations. He said, “We will continue to function as watchdogs. Any change in the position will be decided by senior party leadership.” Elections to other statutory bodies will take place in phases this month.