Round 1: Shiv Vada Pav scores over Kanda Pohe

The Congress wanted 125 stalls for selling Kanda Pohe,but the Sena brushed the proposal aside by opposing the move with a majority,with the support of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

The Congress has now decided make the demand once again in the General Body on Wednesday or else seek the Chief Minister’s intervention.

The Congress had earlier decided to approve the Sena proposal with a rider that the Sena too accept its plan for 125 stalls for Kanda Pohe too.

When the suggestion was put to vote,10 members of the opposition supported it. But 13 members of the ruling party opposed the proposal.

Later,taking a dig at the Congress,the Sena members said they would allow the Shiv Vada Pav handcarts to sell Kaanda Pohe,too.

The Sena’s proposal for 125 handcarts and 215 stalls received approval from the BJP and the MNS.  

During discussions,Congress committee member Amin Patel gave the proposal for 125 Kanda Pohe stalls along with the Shiv Vada Pav initiative. He said it would provide employment opportunity. “There should be a 20 per cent reservation for the scheduled caste and tribes. And the stalls should be given to BPL families,’’ he said.

The suggestion did not get approval and the Congress staged a walkout.

Patel said the civic administration had earlier approved his suggestion and that the Congress will ensure it gets the stalls for Kanda Pohe. “If the Sena gets the stalls,we should also get them. We will seek Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s approval if our demand is not met,’’ he said.

The BMC says the Congress can have around half the handcarts given for Shiv Vada Pav.

The civic administration has said it can provide 59 handcarts,orignally allocated for Shiv Vada Pav,for Kaanda Pohe and the remaining 66 handcarts can be retained by the Sena.

On NCP’s earlier objection to the use of the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on a food item saying it was an insult to the warrior king,the civic body said ‘Shiv’ denotes ‘nirmal’ (pure) and if corporators still had any objections they should decide an appropriate name.

The BMC has also clarified that the handcarts will not be in violation of Supreme Court order against hawkers as alleged by the NCP earlier.