Cong woos Sena for PMC polls

PUNE, March 13: In a surprising development, a group of local Congress functionaries has commenced negotiations with Shiv Sena leaders over ...

PUNE, March 13: In a surprising development, a group of local Congress functionaries has commenced negotiations with Shiv Sena leaders over the Pune Municipal Corporation PMC standing committee chairman and mayoral elections.

The move has baffled the party corporators who have expressed strong resentment over seeking Sena8217;s support to contest the mayoral polls.

According to reliable sources, a former Congress MLA and a former Pune mayor have held talks with Sena MLA Shashikant Sutar in this regard and have offered to withdraw party8217;s stakes for standing committee chairmanship. In bargain, the former mayor has sought Sena8217;s support to the candidature of his wife, a Congress corporator, for the mayoral elections.

Ramesh Bodke, Sena candidate for the standing committee chairmanship election is a staunch supporter of Sutar. The Congress-Sena pact in the PMC politics has been necessitated as the Pune Vikas Aghadi PVA candidate Shivaji Kshirsagar has refused to withdraw his candidature for thechairmanship, Bodke8217;s supporters said. What has irked Sena is the fact that the PVA has staked its claims for both the key posts 8211; standing committee chairman and the Mayor. Congress candidate for the chairmanship Nitin Jagtap, however, said that he would not opt out of the contest bowing down to the directives by the former MLa and the former mayor.

8220;Who are they to decide that I should withdraw in favour of Bodke. And what is the guarantee that the Shiv Sena would support Congress at the mayoral polls?8221; he questioned. While the stand-off between the rival camps over the election of committee chairman continues, the committee members on Thursday commenced the process over finalisation of the civic budget for the financial year 1998-99.

Interestingly, Municipal Commissioner Ramanath Jha was present for the first budget meeting held in the presence of the mayor Vandana Chavan. The mayor expressed the need that the budget should be finalised at the earliest and it was resolved that leaders of allpolitical parties be invited for the next budget meeting scheduled on March 14. During the meeting, the committee members pointed out to the civic chief that several development works and schemes suggested by them in the current years budget 1997-98 were not carried out by the administration. Jha admitted that capital works to the tune of Rs 23 crore were not undertaken, though the PMC had the required funds in its treasury.