A day after the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis ordered a probe into the delimitation of wards in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said that they are ready for any investigation.
Amid the ongoing political tussle between the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Eknath Shinde-led Sena faction, and its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Wednesday, August 24, the latter announced multiple investigations, including one by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) into alleged financial irregularities and corruption in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
It is pertinent to note that this significant move comes ahead of the BMC elections slated to held in October this year as the BJP seems to be looking to wrest control of the BMC from Thackeray-led Sena.
Responding to this, Thackeray said: “I am hopeful that the truth will come out as the probe is ordered by CAG and not by any retired officers.”
For those unversed, the Uddhav Theakcrey-led MVA government had increased the number of wards under the corporation from 227 to 236. However, the BJP-Shinde government reversed the order days after forming the government in Maharashtra.
The civic body, which is the richest in the country, has been ruled by the Shiv Sena for three decades.
Clarifying on this not being a political move, Fadnavis exclaimed that if political vengeance would be the reason, we would have announced the probe through a retired official or some government officials. "We are ordering probe to expose cartels who are looting people for several years, he added."
There are some specific complaints which are in such a nature that they require a special audit by CAG. The money of the people was siphoned off and the Chief Minister has directed to conduct a special audit through CAG, Fadnavis declared in the state Assembly while replying to a debate related to infrastructure of the city.
On the other hand, Shinde, stated that it’s not a revenge action, adding that “the guilty will not be shielded”. He further explained that the exercise was wrong. It would have been appropriate to increase the number of wards after the completion of the 2021 census, he added, informing that 892 complaints were filed against the revision.
Shinde said the census is carried out every 10 years, followed by an appropriate revision in the number of wards. It’s an anomaly that six wards were increased for 20 per cent population and nine wards for 3.8 per cent population, he mentioned, denying the charge of haste by Aaditya when the Supreme Court has ordered a status quo.
Besides, the Congress, which was part of the MVA coalition in Maharashtra, also opposed the delimitation of wards.
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