Assault on BMC official: Civic workers condemn attack, stage protest outside ward office

Speaking to The Indian Express, Ashok Jadhav of Municipal Mazdoor Union said, “A group of party workers from Shiv Sena’s UBT faction visited the assistant municipal commissioner’s office and bashed the assistant engineer. Had they not been stopped by the security officials, the official would have been badly injured. Therefore, BMC workers from 24 wards gathered to condemn the incident and push for their demands.”

“We demand the arrest of the main leader who was present during the assault. It was the responsibility of the leader to control the party workers and ensure that the civic body official was not assaulted in such a disrespectful manner. Furthermore, on-duty workers must not be treated like this. If the leader is not arrested, then all of us from the 24 wards will go on strike”, added Jadhav.

Following the protest, a cohort of twenty workers met municipal commissioner and state appointed administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal to express their concerns.

Rahul Shewale, Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai south-central constituency who belongs to the Shinde faction and also represents the civic body’ workers union, met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday to highlight the issue.

“Right now, our demand is to pass a formal law that will grant protection to the engineers during their duration of work, the same way doctors are given protection. The draft of this law is already being made and only the final clearance is pending,” Shewale told Express.

Earlier on Monday, a delegation of Sena (UBT) workers visited the civic ward office in H/East (HE) ward to raise complaints related to water crisis and illegal encroachments in their ward. This ward covers the Bandra (east) and Santacruze (East) localities. During the meeting, a verbal spat broke out between the patry workers and civic officials and snowballed to a point where one of the party workers slapped an assistant engineer. The incident comes days after the BMC demolished a shakha (branch office) of the Sena UBT, deeming it illegal.

On Tuesday, Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut alleged that the demolition of the 40-year-old shakha had been carried out at the behest of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son.

“Not only this but the photo of Balasaheb Thackeray was also hammered down. It brought tears to our eyes. People got angry and raised their hands, it is okay if we are sent to jail for this”, said Raut in a statement.

Meanwhile, the civic body maintained that the demolition in Bandra was carried out in accordance with the rules and that no images and statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Balasaheb Thackeray were damaged.