Opposition Stages Mock Session At BMC Headquarters Over Land Proposals
Opposition corporators from the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) staged a walkout and convened a parallel civic House outside the Corporation Hall on the first floor of the BMC headquarters on Tuesday. The protest erupted after the opposition accused the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance of shutting out their voices while clearing several key civic decisions.
Around 15 proposals approved by the Improvement Committee were placed before the BMC General Body for final clearance. The approved items included the transfer of SevenHills Hospital in Marol, the lease of the 6.17-acre Century Mills plot in Lower Parel to a private developer, as well as multiple changes in land reservations and property leases.
Alleging they were not granted an opportunity to speak, opposition members exited the official meeting and launched a symbolic parallel House directly outside the chamber. BMC opposition leader Kishori Pednekar was designated as the "Mayor," while senior Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Milind Vaidya served as the "Municipal Commissioner" during the nearly two-hour discussion.
Following the mock session, an opposition delegation met Additional Municipal Commissioner Avinash Dhakane and warned that they would take legal action if their concerns were ignored. Pednekar alleged that the Mayor ignored opposition objections and used ruling party numbers to rush through sensitive proposals in violation of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, calling the passage of proposals in their absence illegal.
Congress group leader Ashraf Azmi stated that the properties involved in the approvals are collectively valued at more than Rs 20,000 crore. Azmi argued that refusing to permit debate on decisions regarding high-value land, redevelopments, leases, and reservation changes constituted a suppression of democratic norms.
Leader of the House Ganesh Khankar defended the approvals, stating that the matters had already received adequate scrutiny. Khankar said the proposals were previously discussed in the Improvement and Standing Committees where the opposition had been given opportunities to speak, claiming the opposition was merely attempting to build a false narrative.
