Blaming the municipal commissioner for inefficiency, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Tuesday sought the removal of Sitaram Kunte from the post at the earliest. The party also moved a no-confidence motion against Kunte for his alleged failure to protect the interests of Mumbaikars.
Referring to the Dockyard Road building collapse incident which killed 61 people, MNS group leader Sandeep Deshpande alleged that Kunte is indirectly shielding additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar, who is alleged to have sat on a file pertaining to the repair work of the ill-fated structure for six months.
“During his tenure as the municipal commissioner, Kunte’s performance has been dismal on various fronts. Take the issues of roads, solid-waste management, water supply and instances of building collapse, the city is in a mess. While people are left to suffer, Kunte has no control over subordinates fuelling the problems,” said Deshpande.
Deshpande, the recently appointed group leader of the Raj Thackeray-led party, added that the sentiment he has is shared by corporators of both, ruling and opposition parties. “The officials are adamant and they feel that the corporators can’t control them. It’s high time that we (corporators) show them we can control them and get public issues solved,” said Deshpande.
The corporator who has been elected from Dadar said that he would speak to group leaders of all political parties to get support for the motion.
The ruling and opposition parties, however, have reacted cautiously to the motion. According to a Shiv Sena leader, who did not wish to be named, the party had not decided its stand in this regard. Samajwadi Party group leader Rais Shaikh too said his party would take a call on the motion only after discussing the same with Deshpande. “He has moved the motion on behalf of his party. If he discusses it with us, only then can anything be said,” he added.
The municipal commissioner could not be reached for his version.
Cong picks new leader in BMC
The Congress party, the principal opposition group in the BMC, has appointed Devendra Amberkar as the new leader of its corporators in the house. Amberkar, a corporator from K/West, Andheri, will replace Dnyanraj Nikam as leader of the opposition in the house. The party has informed mayor Sunil Prabhu about the change. As per party sources, the party was dissatisfied with Nikam’s inability to corner the ruling party during his tenure so far. “Despite having a large number of members (52) in the house (of 227 members), the party’s presence could not be felt as several issues were not taken up seriously,” a source said. Nikam could not be contacted for his comment.
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