Mayor8217;s meet with MLAs ruffles feathers

Each MLA is entitled to spend Rs 60 lakh for developmental projects per year in his constituency, while a corporator is entitled to Rs 20 lakh in a year.

Though only three of Mumbai8217;s 29 MLAs attended the meeting, the mayor8217;s action hasn8217;t gone down well with members of the council, who felt Satam had no reason to keep them away. Some of the members said they would make their displeasure known to the mayor.

The Shiv Sena8217;s council member Ram Mhatre, who8217;s in charge of finance, said none of the council members were aware that such a meeting had been convened.

He said he learnt about the meeting only after it was held, and didn8217;t even know its purpose. However, he made it clear that therewas no need to keep council members away if the meeting had been held to discuss Mumbai8217;s development.

Another council member, preferring anonymity, sarcastically observed that the mayor trusted MLAs more than his council members and added that Satam should be happy because not all MLAs skipped the meeting.

He felt it was necessary for the mayor to take all council members into confidence while discussing Mumbai8217;s problems and its development, because all of them held equal responsibility for the city8217;s growth.

The issue is likely to be raised when the council meets for the first time on May 22. A Bharatiya Janata Party council member said he would ask the mayor for details of the meeting. 8220;We should be told what8217;s being discussed about Mumbai,8221; he added.

Sources informed that very little discussion took place during the meeting, because the MLAs weren8217;t informed of its agenda and none of them came prepared. The meeting ended quickly with the MLAs suggesting the mayor should convene another session,so that the issues could be discussed at length.

A councillor attributed the poor attendance to the hurry shown by the mayor in holding the discussion. Mhatre said there was no need to call the meeting in such great hurry.