Pune: Ashwini Kadam cries injustice

Pune Municipal Corporation general body witnessed an emotional outburst from the sole independent corporator Ashwini Kadam on Thursday.

Kadam, who is representing the Aranyeshwar ward and has been supporting the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), complained that her ward has been ignored in the budget. She broke down while making her speech on the budget.

Expressing displeasure at the monetary provision for the development of her ward in the 2013-14 budget of PMC, she said, “By extending my support to NCP, I had thought that I would be able to pursue people-oriented projects in my ward. But the budget makes provisions for only some specific areas of the city.”

Kadam claimed that some ‘blue-eyed boys’ of the standing committee chairman are favoured.

“I feel that some people are given special treatment with respect to reallocation of fund, but I was denied when I requested it for my ward,” she said. A sobbing Kadam told the house that she has been taken for granted as she is an independent corporator.

Taking note of Kadam’s statement, opposition leaders asked standing committee chairman Baburao Chandere to give equal share in the budget for all corporators.

While replying to Kadam’s speech, Chandere offered fund allotted for himself for Kadam’s ward and said, “I will offer extra fund if Kadam needed for her ward’s development.