The expenses included a spend of a total of approximately Rs 3 crore for the Tiranga Yatra held in the city last year. Joshi, on Tuesday, had questioned the expenditure incurred by the VMC - amounting to Rs 6.5 crore - for organising the October 2024 event of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez to inaugurate the ambitious Tata-Airbus TATA Advanced System Ltd. (TASL) manufacturing facility of the C-295.
The special Budget session of the General Board, which began on Tuesday, was scheduled to continue discussions for at least three days as per usual practice followed in the civic body for over four decades.
THE VADODARA Municipal Corporation’s () special session of the General Board to discuss the annual Budget for 2026-27 ended on a dramatic note in the first session on Wednesday after City Mayor Pinki Soni suspended seven Congress corporators from the session, following a heated exchange between the elected members of the ruling party and the Opposition.
The special Budget session of the General Board, which began on Tuesday, was scheduled to continue discussions for at least three days as per usual practice followed in the civic body for over four decades.
However, on Wednesday, around two hours into the session, the Congress leaders and the elected members of the BJP got into a verbal spat. The session went haywire after Congress leader Pushpa Vaghela, who was making representations regarding the Budget, raised the issue of the absence of Municipal Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu from the session. As the BJP leaders pointed out the time limit for speaking, other Congress leaders joined, alleging a “planned move” to prevent the Opposition from making submissions. Soon, Mayor Soni announced the suspension of the seven Congress leaders and the elected members of the BJP passed the Rs 7,672-crore Budget that had been approved by the Standing Committee previously.
Mayor Pinki Soni said on Wednesday, “The Congress leaders conspired to disrupt the Budget session of the VMC and acted in a manner that was inappropriate for the sanctity of the budget session… The Budget was passed with majority approval after the Congress leaders were suspended.”
Wednesday’s dramatic end to the budget session came a day after Ward 15 Corporator Ashish Joshi– suspended from the BJP for ‘indiscipline’ following the incident where two mothers of victims of the 2024 Harni Boat tragedy had interrupted the Chief Minister in May last year– raised the issue of “unnecessary extravagant expenditures” shown from the VMC treasury, relying on documents that he had procured through RTI.
The expenses included a spend of a total of approximately Rs 3 crore for the Tiranga Yatra held in the city last year. Joshi, on Tuesday, had questioned the expenditure incurred by the VMC – amounting to Rs 6.5 crore – for organising the October 2024 event of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez to inaugurate the ambitious Tata-Airbus TATA Advanced System Ltd. (TASL) manufacturing facility of the C-295.
Joshi had pointed out specific expenditures of procuring synthetic tricolour flags worth Rs 80 lakh along with Rs 10 lakh worth bamboo sticks for the flag poles as well as a spend of Rs 1.75 crore on “media management” during the road show of Modi and Sanchez. Joshi had refused to tender an apology in raising the issue of the tricolour after the elected members of the BJP and Mayor Soni demanded the same, accusing Joshi of “dishonouring the national flag”.
On Wednesday, as the budget session began, Joshi handed over a cheque of Rs 3.7 lakh to Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ganga Singh as a “contribution” for the expenses of the Tiranga Yatra and urged the other corporators of the BJP to follow suit. Speaking to The Indian Express, Joshi said, “I calculated the complete expenditures of the Tiranga Yatra and it amounts to over Rs 3. As per the calculation, all elected corporators of the VMC and the MLAs and MP must contribute Rs 3.7 lakhs to bear the expenditure and prove their patriotism…”
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Joshi said that he urged his fellow corporators on Wednesday to make the contribution and ease the burden of the treasury. “Why should the taxpayers’ money be wasted for such programmes where the flags are procured without any tender process under a blanket approval of the Standing Committee… The expenditure towards media management on the Modi-Sanchez rally is unexplained and it is only the tip of the ice-berg.”
While Joshi was not among the suspended corporators, Congress leaders accused the BJP of “fearing exposure” of the “false promises” made under the budget. Opposition Leader Chandrakant Shrivastav– who is also the oldest member among the elected corporators currently– said, “The BJP is scared that the questions we raise will expose their corruption, inefficiency and duality… They used a pre-planned strategy to interrupt, provoke, dramtise and suspend the Congress leaders…”
Pushpa Vaghela said, “If you (BJP) have so much power, you must be able to use it to bring justice to Harni boat victims, provide clean water, ensure that there are no floods in the city. They want to show their power to the seven leaders of the Opposition because they have no courage to listen to the truth… they should go to the voters without a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check their worth. It is the first time in the history of the VMC that the budget has been passed without a discussion.”
She added, “It is the misfortune of the Vadodara voters that the people who they voted for in big numbers, in the name of their tallest leaders, are the ones who have drowned people in floods, deployed bouncers in the VMC premises to prevent citizens from stepping in. Not a single road is left intact in the city as they (BJP) are not interested in working for the people.”
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Congress leader Ami Ravat said that with the elections approaching, the BJP was “anxious” that the illusion of Rs 15000-crore worth projects coming up in Vadodara would be shattered with the Congress raising questions. Ravat said, “Inspired by the way Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is not allowed to speak in the Parliament, the Vadodara BJP leaders, by design, restricted the Opposition from speaking. They were afraid that their false promises of a projected Rs 15000 crore budget will be exposed ahead of the civic polls next month…. The truth is that not even Rs 1000 crore worth projects will be executed although the budget promises to restore Vadodara to its glory of the 18th century city under the rule of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. The only way was to shut out the Opposition?”
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
Expertise:
Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including:
Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground.
Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure.
Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case).
Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions.
Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... Read More
