NCP leader Jayant Patil. file | Photo Credit: PTI
The Opposition on July 21 said setting up of offices at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters by the Guardian Ministers of Mumbai has set a wrong precedent and encroached upon the rights of the civic body.
The issue was raised by Jayant Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
He said Mangal Prabhat Lodha of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who is the guardian minister for Mumbai suburbs, has set up his office in one of the BMC cabins.
“I was the guardian minister of this city and opening an office in the municipal body is an encroachment on the rights of the municipal body. There is no elected representative in the BMC and the government has to maintain a greater distance from the local self-government bodies.” Ensure their freedom,” Mr Patil said.
The senior NCP leader said, “The BMC commissioner can be called to the minister’s office, but setting an office is a wrong precedent.”
Hitting out at the state government, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said that the cabins of market committee and education committee chairman have been given to two guardian ministers.
“What was the reason behind this? Do they want to build a tower there?” Mr Thackeray said in an apparent dig at Mr Lodha, whose family is in the realty business.
“It is a wrong precedent as the duties of ministers and local self-governance are different. There is no mayor or public representative in the BMC now (due to the civic body’s tenure ending last year). The move is to add to the scams ” Mr. Thackeray alleged.
Mr Thackeray said that if guardian ministers are given cabins in the BMC, then all mayors in the state should get offices in the Mantralaya (state secretariat) and MLAs in Mumbai should be provided with offices in the civic headquarters.