Ahead of the high-stakes Mumbai civic body poll, Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis launched a broadside against the ruling Shiv Sena, dubbing the Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) a “hub of corruption” while stating that he would demand a special CAG audit of the BMC’s expenditure.
Mr. Fadnavis, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, further alleged that BJP leaders were not being allowed to speak in the standing committee meetings of the civic body.
“The scale in which corruption is taking place within the BMC, I do not think one can find it anywhere in Maharashtra or even in the country. I have been closely monitoring the workings of the civic body for the last one-and-half years and the ruling power [the Sena] has been calling for all meetings of the standing committee to be held online under the pretext of the pandemic and not allowing BJP corporators to speak in those meetings,” claimed Mr. Fadnavis.
The BJP leader further alleged that question marks had been raised on most of the decisions taken by the BMC during the COVID-19 pandemic, while charging the civic body’s leadership with alleged corruption pertaining to road contracts.
Sena’s lifeline
The cash-rich BMC, whose annual budget exceeds that of even some States in the country, is considered to be the Shiv Sena’s lifeline, power base and the party’s major resource centre in Maharashtra.
While holding absolute sway over the Mumbai civic body for two decades, the BJP — riding high on the ‘Narendra Modi wave’ — had rattled the Sena by putting up a spirited performance in the 2017 civic body poll, when the party snared 82 of the total 227 seats, second only to the Sena’s tally of 84 seats.
The Sena’s strength later increased to 97 with the support of some independents and the defection of some corporators from the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
In 2017, the Sena was in still in alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra. This time, with the two saffron parties on opposing sides in the political arena and much bad blood between them, the stakes for the BMC contest have never been higher.
