BJP defaces Marine Drive with hundreds of party flags

While Devendra Fadnavis took oath on Friday as BJP's first chief minister in the state with a promise of making it better, his own party cadres defaced a prominent area of the city with hundreds of party flags.

The flags were put up on the road median in a significant portion of Marine Drive — from Charni Road station to Wankhede stadium — as a welcome for BJP and other leaders, who came in huge numbers to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government.

The flags were put between the shrubs planted on the divider, which apparently damaged them.

That's not all. Phadnavis' picture was splashed across several banners across the city, especially near Worli naka and mantralaya. They continued to be displayed even on Saturday.

A recent high court order stated that banners, flags or posters should be completely disallowed by BMC. A senior civic official from the licence department told dna that BMC has not been giving permission for 99% of such requests, since the high court order.

Superintendent of licences of BMC Sharad Bande said, “To my knowledge, we haven't given any permission to BJP to put up so many flags on Marine Drive road divider. We are not sure if the party had sought permission from the local D ward, but it is unlikely that ward officials would have okayed this. We will inspect them and take necessary action if they are unauthorised.”