
MUMBAI, DEC 14: Thanking Thane residents for their show of solidarity in his favour, TMC municipal commissioner T S Chandrashekhar today said: 8220;Now I know the commonest of the common man is with me.8221;
The Thane civic chief was today back to performing his normal duties in the corporation8217;s headquarters, as two more morchas were taken out in the township in his support 8212; one by the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP and another by Akhil Bharatiya Sena ABS, the political outfit of gangster Arun Gawli.
The BJP morcha, which had over 300 participants, wound its way from Thane railway station to the TMC office via Chandanwadi. On reaching the TMC office, BJP leaders met mayor Premsinh Rajput to submit a memorandum demanding
1 the presentation of the Nandlal committee report
2 revelation of the names of 40 corporators involved in illegal constructions
3 rejection of the resolution passed in TMC on Friday expressing no confidence8217; in Chandrashekhar.
But Rajput refused to accept the memorandum andinstead walked out of his chamber in a huff. Later, he held a press meet in which he again charged Chandrashekhar with dominating corporators and not taking them into confidence.
Though Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray came out in support of the commissioner on Sunday, asking him to 8220;continue the good work,8221; the Sena mayor today reiterated the corporators8217; case that not even a single file sent by them had been cleared by Chandrashekhar this year. On his part, Chandrashekhar said work in the corporation was a continuous process and alleged that the corporators themselves prevented tenders from being passed.
The ABS held a rasta roko outside Thane railway station from 10.30 to 11.30 am to underline its support for Chandrashekhar and pressure the government to send the corporators8217; resolution against the Thane commissioner back to the civic corporation.
Nearly 100 doctors and some lawyers had on Sunday undertaken a march to the TMC office, and autos in the township had observed a bandh to protest thecorporators8217; no-confidence move against Chandrashekhar.
Similarly, at a meeting held with the TMC commissioner and Thane-based Sena leaders at Hotel Centaur on Sunday evening, Sena chief Bal Thackeray had declared his backing for Chandrashekhar and urged the commissioner to also accord priority to developmental work undertaken by corporators in their respective wards.
The Sena chief said widening of roads didn8217;t complete the process of development. Many proposals for putting up fountains in various parts of Thane had been lying uncleared, and assistance of private companies could be sought to erect a wall around Rairi Talao.
The corporators were told not to dictate terms to Chandrashekhar but submit work-related proposals to him in writing. If the proposals weren8217;t cleared, they corporators could certainly speak up on the basis of sound evidence, he added.
No developmental activities in any city could take place without cooperation between corporators and the civic commissioner. Hence Chandrashekharshould take the assistance of corporators and also offer assistance to them, Thackeray noted. 8220;Chandrashekhar should eschew red-tapism and keep up his good work, I8217;ll continue to back him,8221; he said.
While lavishing praise on the road-widening project undertaken by the commissioner, he questioned why works which appeared small in nature were not being done. 8220;Corporators offer proposals for works like repairing toilets and cleaning up roads. Only if such apparently small works are done will a corporator retain any respect in his/her ward,8221; he pointed out, adding the commissioner should try to solve these problems.
He said technicalities should not allowed to be obstacles in developmental work.