Deputy mayor's poll: Opposition ruckus over Uddhav Thackeray's presence

The opposition parties in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday created a ruckus during the election held for the deputy mayor's post, objecting to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray entering the civic House even as the poll proceedings were on.

Thackeray had entered the House to congratulate Snehal Ambekar, who replaced Sunil Prabhu as the city's mayor.

The opposition members demanded that BMC hold the election for the post of deputy mayor again as there has been a breach of tradition on part of Thackeray, his wife Rashmi and son Aditya, who is the Yuva Sena chief.

After the Thackerays left the civic House, corporators from Congress and NCP staged a walkout and engaged in sloganeering against Ambekar and municipal secretary Narayan Pathade for allowing the Thackerays in.

The corporators, however, were soft in their criticism against the Thackerays.

"Thackeray entered the House when the election was on. This was a violation of the tradition of the House. It was the duty of the municipal secretary to apprise Thackeray about the tradition. But he did not. Hence, action must be taken against him. We have sought the opinion of the legal department in this connection. We demand that the election be held again," said Devendra Amberkar, opposition leader.

The opposition leader also took objection to Ambekar wearing a muffler carrying Shiv Sena's symbol (bow and arrow) while working as the presiding officer in the election process.

Thackeray chose not to react over the allegations of breach of the House's tradition. "Our party leaders in the BMC will comment in this regard," he said.

Meanwhile, when asked why the opposition parties did not object to Thackeray's entry when the he was inside the House, a senior Congress corporator said, "He is the president of a political outfit, after all. We had
to respect that fact," the corporator said, defending his party.