After toying with the idea of appointing a chief executive officer (CEO) for Mumbai, the BJP is mulling resurrecting the mayor-in-council (MIC) concept for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
According to party leaders, the concept, which was first implemented in 1998 when the Shiv Sena-BJP combine was in power in Maharashtra, will help solve city's problems in a better way.
The BJP, however, plans to bring in the system after installing its own mayor post the 2017 civic polls, its leaders have said. The party has been hinting it plans to go solo for the municipality election.
"The system will give more powers to the city's first citizen. We believe the mayor must have executive powers, which is not the case right now. All the executive powers are with commissioners and others in the administration. But we want to bring back the system once we have a mayor from our party in the corporation," said Manoj Kotak, BJP's group leader in the BMC.
In the system, the mayor and his council get substantial powers, similar to that of chief ministers and their cabinet colleagues. Instead of various committees, the council set-up has chairpersons of departments, such as education, health, and solid waste management.
City BJP's demand for MIC is also likely to create controversy as the earlier experiment with the system proved to be a failure. The system was first brought in 1998, with the Sena appointing Nandu Satam as mayor. The system then had 12 departments. Besides, the auditor's department was with the opposition leader, who could keep a check on the functioning of the executive wing. The system, however, was wrapped up after it emerged the mayor had allegedly become (too) powerful. The council was also alleged of large-scale corruption in awarding contracts to certain contractors.
But Kotak claimed both CEO and MIC set can co-exist and benefit Mumbai. "The CEO would work as a facilitator. He will be there to resolve issues between two governing agencies and put works on fast track," he added.
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