Two days after whipping up a controversy by stating that she would not give up the red beacon on her car, newly elected Mayor Snehal Ambekar from the Shiv Sena reiterated her defiant stand yesterday and found support from at least two former mayors, who said the beacon is necessary.

Status symbol? The mayor’s car with the red beacon and (below) her Facebook post asking Mumbaikars for their opinion on the issue. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Her defiance has, however, given ammunition to the opposition, with Congress corporator and opposition leader Devendra Amberkar alleging that her decision was in contempt of the Supreme Court’s ruling asking states to severely restrict the use of red beacons, terming their misuse a menace to society. He threatened to move the SC if the mayor did not stop using the red beacon.