The legacy of PMC: Silver mace, historic chair

PRAYAGRAJ: The newly elected mayor of the city, Ganesh Keserwani who took oath of office on Friday was handed over the 'historic mace' by the outgoing mayor Abhilasha Gupta Nandi in a ceremony held at Parade ground near Sangam.
In the process of taking over the charge as the new mayor of the city, three things are important in the proceedings of Prayagraj Municipal Corporation (PMC)-the silver mace, the historical chair of the mayor and the mini sadan (house).
The tradition of handing over the 'mace', made of Silver, was first witnessed in 1938 when the Nagar Palika was formed. Prior to handling the same to the new mayor, the mace is taken out from the almirah, kept at the office of the mayor, and taken to the local jeweller for cleaning and polishing.
Similarly, the 'historic chair' which is placed at the 'mini sadan' (house) at the PMC building is equally important in the entire process of taking over the new mayoral post at Prayagraj as the same is much older than the mace. The chair of the mayor is 108-years-old and was especially designed and brought from Bareilly. Former Prime Ministers of the country, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri sat on this chair as the chairman of the city government committee.
About two years before the formation of Allahabad Municipality (1914), the British had constructed the Sadan (house). After the formation of the house, a joint chair and table were installed for the members to sit.
At the same time, a special wooden chair was called from Bareilly for the Chairman to sit. Shiv Charan Lal, Purushottam Das Tandon, Kamta Prasad Kakkar sat on this chair and operated the House after becoming the Chairman. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru sat on this chair after becoming the chairman of the Allahabad Municipality on 3 April 1923. After Pandit Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri also sat on this chair as the chairman. As per the records, Shiv Charan Lal, the first chairman of the Allahabad (the earlier name of Prayagraj) Municipal Corporation, was elected in October 1916. After this, Rajshri Purushottam Das Tandon honoured this chair on January 3, 1921. In this sequence, Kamta Prasad Kakkar, also known for his development works of the city, was the chairman from March 23, 1922 to March 29, 1923.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru sat on this chair after becoming the chairman of the Allahabad Municipality on April 3, 1923. Nehru has been the fourth chairman of this municipality. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of this country, also reached the Delhi Darbar through Mini Sadan of this city.