With the registration of all major political parties following the civic polls concluding earlier this week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation administration has begun allotting party offices inside the civic headquarters, based on the numerical strength of each party in the newly elected House.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, the single largest party with 89 seats, became the first to stake claim to its office on Friday, retaining the space it occupied during the 2017 to 2022 term. Located at the south end corridor of the old BMC building, the office includes two work areas, a private room, a conference room and a large hall for meetings. A delegation of newly elected corporators and party workers took possession of the office on Friday and performed a puja.
“We are very happy with this since during our previous tenure we operated from here. In our demand letter our party requested the administration if we can get this office this year as well,” a senior party functionary told The Indian Express.
Party offices inside the BMC headquarters were shut after the tenure of the elected body ended in 2022. However, the BJP office was reopened last year after the State Election Commission set up a temporary facility there for the civic polls held in January.
Shiv Sena factions to share traditional Sena office
Adjacent to the BJP office will be the offices of the two factions of the Shiv Sena. The space, traditionally occupied by the undivided Sena for nearly two decades when it remained the largest party in the civic body, is among the biggest party offices in the BMC, with a large hall, two private meeting rooms and a conference room.
Civic officials said the hall will now be bifurcated, with each faction being allotted one private meeting room and a conference room. The Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction has emerged as the second largest party with 65 seats, while the Eknath Shinde faction has secured 29 seats.
“Initially we were told to take the office which was given to the Congress in between 2017 to 2022. However, since the newly bifurcated office belonged to the undivided Shiv Sena we preferred keeping it with us,” Ameya Ghole, group leader of the Shinde faction of the Sena, told The Indian Express.
Congress retains old office
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The Indian National Congress, which has won 24 seats, will continue to operate from its earlier office. Initially, the party had been allotted the space now being claimed by the Sena factions.
“We had demanded the administration to allot us our previous office only since all our old documents continue to stay there. Also, we have 16 women corporators therefore this space will be safe for us as well. As a result, when we came to know that this office was being given to Shinde Sena we demanded that it should be given to us and we mutually agreed to give it to them and take possession of this one,” Ashraf Azmi, leader of the Congress in the BMC, told Express.
Azmi said refurbishing work at the allotted office is underway and the corporators will take possession from next month. The space includes a common hall, private seating area and a conference room.
When contacted, Kishori Pednekar, leader of the Sena UBT in the BMC, said, “We have been notified that our office space has been allotted but I didn’t visit it yet since the ancillary works are underway. We will carry out a visit inspection after the Mayor gets elected next week.”
AIMIM to get first independent office
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The All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen, which has won eight seats and will also have one nominated corporator, is set to get an independent office in the BMC for the first time.
“We have sent a letter to the civic administration demanding a dedicated office for our daily work. The administration has not formally gotten back to us yet and it seems that we will get the possession of our office likely next week,” Vijay Ubale, AIMIM group leader, told Express.
An official said a small office on the ground floor of the old building is being readied for AIMIM. The official added that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which has won six seats, will also be allotted a small office.
This will be the first time that the Nationalist Congress Party and the Samajwadi Party will not have exclusive offices in the BMC. The NCP has won three seats, the Samajwadi Party two seats, and the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP one seat.
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“For the parties which have less than five seats a common space is being created with dedicated office spaces, that will act like a corporator’s block to them,” the official said.
