After shock defeat in BMC House, BJP pushes biometric attendance for corporators
On Thursday, BJP corporator Makarand Narwekar wrote to Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde seeking the introduction of biometric attendance for all corporators during BMC proceedings.
On Thursday, BJP corporator Makarand Narwekar wrote to Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde seeking the introduction of biometric attendance for all corporators during BMC proceedings. (File image) Days after the ruling Mahayuti alliance failed to ensure that enough members were present in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) House to pass a key proposal that they had moved, the BJP has moved to tighten discipline among corporators by proposing biometric attendance during general body and statutory committee meetings.
The move comes after the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) jointly blocked the proposal on April 30, exposing gaps in attendance and floor coordination within the ruling alliance.
Since the proposal was tabled as an urgent business motion, it required support from three-fourths of the members present in the House. However, with only 61 ruling alliance corporators present during voting, the proposal fell short of the required numbers and failed to pass.
On Thursday, BJP corporator Makarand Narwekar wrote to Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde seeking the introduction of biometric attendance for all corporators during BMC proceedings.
“We have successfully implemented a biometric attendance system within our (BJP) party office at the BMC. This initiative has ensured accurate attendance tracking and reinforced discipline among corporators. Drawing inspiration from this, it would be prudent to extend a similar system to the General Body Meetings,” Narwekar stated in his letter.
He added that the system would improve accountability, encourage punctuality and increase active participation among corporators while strengthening transparency in governance.
At the time of voting on April 30, only 119 of the 227 elected corporators were present in the House, including 61 members from the ruling alliance and 58 from the opposition. Under provisions of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, the urgent proposal required at least 90 votes in its favour for clearance.
The defeat marked the first time since the newly elected BMC House assumed office in February that a proposal backed by the ruling alliance failed to pass in the civic body.
Following the setback, Leader of the House Ganesh Khankar and Shiv Sena group leader Ameya Ghole issued showcause notices to absent corporators from their respective parties, seeking explanations for their absence during the voting.
The BJP has also decided to link attendance and participation to future allocation of development funds and even ticket distribution for elections.
During a recent meeting chaired by Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam, party leaders decided that attendance records of corporators at statutory meetings would be maintained and used as a parameter to assess performance.
“It was decided in the last meeting that a record of attendance for corporators will be maintained in the statutory meetings. This attendance will be a marker of the corporator’s performance, on the basis of which development funds will be distributed to them from next year as well as the tickets to reelection will be issued going forward,” a BJP functionary said.
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