The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Prabhakar Shinde seeking to be recognised as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the basis of his party’s strength.
With the dismissal of the petition, Ravi Raja from Congress will continue as the LoP in BMC. This comes as a huge blow to the BJP which has been wanting to get the LoP post in the civic body after its alliance with Shiv Sena ended in 2019.
In February this year, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar was asked to appoint Shinde as the LoP. The petition filed by Shinde claimed that the Mayor failed to appoint him as the LoP as BJP is the second-largest party in the BMC and appointed Raja for the same. Congress is the third-largest party in BMC.
Earlier in 2017, BJP’s alliance with the Shiv Sena was intact and it decided to stay out of power and didn’t accept the LoP post. Therefore, Ravi Raja from Congress was appointed as the LoP in the civic body.
After the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, Shiv Sena ended its 35-year-old alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form government in the state. As this happened, BJP wanted to get a hold on the LoP position in the civic body.
However, Pednekar rejected the request made by Mumbai BJP President Mangal Prabhat Lodha after which Shinde moved to Bombay HC. Of the 227 seats in BMC, Shiv Sena currently has 92 seats, BJP has 82 and Congress has 30.
A division bench of Justice S J Kathawala and Justice Madhav J Jamdar said that the Mayor’s decision to appoint Ravi Raja as the LoP falls within the ambit of the law. The court said that no interference was required as the Mayor’s decision was “just” and “proper”.
The court observed that important posts can’t be allowed to be occupied on the whims of individuals or political parties.
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