In BMC, BJP suffers setback as Wadala proposal fails vote

The tabled proposal stated that a civic owned plot in central Mumbai’s Wadala would be handed over to a private builder for redeveloping the existing housing tenements alongside developing new housing units on it. At present, the housing tenements are being occupied by municipal workers and families of traditional mill workers who have been living there as tenants. The proposal was listed as item number eight in the agenda, however, it was brought on top of the agenda for discussion citing it as an ‘urgent bill’ (UB).

Following this, voting in the house was initiated when 119 members were present, which included 61 from the ruling alliance and 58 members from the opposition. In total, the corporator strength of BMC stands at 227.

The 227-member BMC is currently led by the ruling alliance of the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), which together hold 118 seats — with the BJP having 89 corporators and the Shinde-led Sena 29. The Opposition bloc is led by the Shiv Sena (UBT) with 65 seats, followed by the Congress with 24 seats, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) with 6, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) with 1. Among others, the NCP has 3 seats, the Samajwadi Party 2, and the AIMIM 8, while smaller parties and independents account for the remaining seats.

According to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) act, an UB will require three-fourth of the votes in its favour for clearance, unlike ordinary bills or proposals that require maximum votes in the floor of the house as per the present strength. During the time of voting, there were 61 members from the ruling alliance, while 58 members were there from the opposing. As per the specified ratio, the bill would have required 90 votes in its favour to obtain full clearance, however, since the entire opposition voted against it, the bill could only generate 61 votes in its favour.

“This proposal was tabled as an UB since it was a matter of public interest, however, the opposition refrained from voting in favour of it. This is absolutely unfair since it stalls the city’s scope for growth. We (BJP) were also in the opposition till the last term, but not once did we vote against an UB,” Ganesh Khankar, BJP corporator and leader of the house in BMC told The Indian Express on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the opposition parties maintained that they aren’t opposing the bill in general, however, the nature of it in which the Mahayuti wanted it to pass it.

Congress group leader and corporator, Ashraf Azmi said that this proposal got cleared in the civic standing committee earlier this month and as per the regulations it should have been brought into the house after 90 days.

“To ensure the bill gets cleared immediately the ruling alliance tabled it as an UB. This is not an urgent issue. Who is the BMC trying to benefit by clearing it so fast ? We are not questioning the proposal, but the way it was tabled,” Azmi said.

Sena UBT corporator, Sachin Padwal meanwhile said, “Earlier this month, the proposal of desilting Mithi River was tabled in the house as an UB and we voted for it because it is of public interest. A proposal pertaining to giving away land to a private builder is not related to public interest in any way. Therefore, we opposed it entirely.”