Following BJP MP Gopal Shetty's offer to return land taken by his organisation, Cong and MNS expect same from its ally
With over 11 lakh sqft of prime open spaces under control of its leaders, the Shiv Sena has emerged as the biggest villain in the political tussle over the contentious open space policy passed by the BMC.
With BJP MP Gopal Shetty offering to return open spaces taken over by his organisation, the Congress and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) hitting out at the Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray led party is left red faced.
The party is now under pressure to give up the open spaces that are with its leaders or face more political cross fire.
According to the BMC records, almost all political leaders have usurped open spaces but Sena leaders are the biggest holders of recreation and playgrounds. While the Sena was keen to get the new policy approved, the BJP managed to distance it self from the policy by demanding that it be scrapped.
Eventually, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered a review of the policy and BJP leaders claimed credit for the move.
While Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray hit out at the BJP and claimed that the Sena was batting for open spaces, party leaders in the BMC were backing the policy throughout. "The Sena will never indulge in double-standards. It was with support from the BJP corporators that the policy was approved, by a majority. But the political game that they have been playing in the past few days is annoying," Thackeray had said.
Sena's Yashodhar Phanse, who heads the civic standing committee, maintained that there was noting wrong with the current policy.
"They (BJP) managed to outsmart us once again. The party leadership will now have to take a call on whether our leaders will give up the open spaces that are with them. Unless that is done, we will look like villains," a senior Sena corporator admitted.
The Sena was at the center of political attacks on Monday too as city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam alleged that Uddhav had usurped most open spaces in the city. The MNS's Sandip Deshpande, too, demanded that Sena leaders return all the open spaces with them.
"The Shiv Sena and BJP have commercialized open spaces. The BMC must take everything back and maintain these spaces on its own. The Sena has made a business out of open spaces too," Nirupam said.
"The BJP has done it, the Sena should follow suit. Unless they handover the plots, we will not believe that they want to give back the open spaces to the city. They must lead by example," Deshpande said.
When asked if her party would return the open spaces, Sena leader in the BMC Trushna Vishwasrao said, "We have not decided on anything yet. I will speak to the party leadership and then talk."
Shiv Sena's open space bank
Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu's Ms Aarey Bhaskar Plot at Goregaon measuring 2,500 sqmt
Shiv Sena leader Vinod Ghosalkar's Dahisar Sports Foundation Three plots at Dahisar measuring 30,000 sqmt
Shiv Sena leader Amarnath Patil's Ms Amarnath Patil Trust Plot at Govandi measuring 9,400 sqmt
Shiv Sena leader Datta Dalvi's Ms Shree Datta Krida Prabodini Plot at Bhandup measuring 1,803 sqmt
Shiv Sena Minister Ravindra Waikar's Ms Matoshri Arts and Sports Club Plot at Jogeshwari measuring 56,137 sq mt
Shiv Sena Minister Subhash Desai's Ms Prabodhan Plot at Goregaon measuring 12,885 sqmt
Shiv Sena leader Trushna Vishwasrao's Ms Madhukar Vishwasrao Shikshan Sanstha Plot at Wadala measuring 3384 sqmt
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