Protesting the Thackerays’ entry into the BMC general body meeting hall while the polling for deputy mayor’s post was on, NCP and Congress corporators walked out and boycotted it
While the city got its first female dalit mayor yesterday, the mayoral elections were marred by a huge row between the ruling parties and the opposition, which was sparked by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his family entering the civic body’s general body meeting hall to congratulate their candidate.
After the Sena’s Snehal Ambekar was declared the mayor, Thackeray, his wife Rashmi, and son Aaditya walked in while votes were being polled for the deputy mayor’s post. File pic
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After the Sena’s Snehal Ambekar was declared the mayor, Thackeray, his wife Rashmi, and son Aaditya walked in while votes were being polled for the deputy mayor’s post, causing a furore in the opposition benches. Congress and NCP corporators walked out to protest the “unlawful act”, and their boycott ensured that BJP candidate Alka Kerkar was elected the deputy mayor unopposed.
When the Thackerays walked in, Congress and NCP corporators protested and argued with the municipal secretary for 20 minutes. After this did not yield the desired result, they walked out, ensuring that only members from the Sena and BJP voted for the deputy mayor’s post. Kerkar won by 121 votes as no opposition corporators participated.
The Congress has called for a re-election and demanded action against the municipal secretary for keeping mum and not taking action despite the “illegal entry”. Congress corporator and opposition leader Devendra Ambekar said, “Since the election process was on, the Sena chief should have been stopped from entering the house. He clearly violated the election rules and the polling should be done again.”
“The municipal secretary is also responsible for this violation. It was his duty to tell the ruling parties about the rules and regulations. We are taking legal on the incident and we demand action against the municipal secretary,” he added.
When Thackeray was asked about the incident, he said, “Our members are enough to reply to this issue”, and left the venue. Municipal secretary Narayan Pathade was unavailable for comment.
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