Sena, BJP divided again in BMC

May 6: The differences between the Shiv Sena and the BJP in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) resurfaced when the opposition — led by the BJP — staged a walk-out from the BEST committee meeting today over the purchase of 312 new chassis from Ashok Leyland.

The BJP’s Tara Singh today raised a point of order against the deal alleging the company misused the monopoly it enjoyed in BEST in connivance with high-ranking officials. He pointed out that for 25 years, the BEST management gave Ashok Leyland preferential treatment. BEST general manager V M Lal denied that Ashok Leyland was favoured over others. He clarified that BEST did not purchase standard chassis had them custom-made for its requirements. “We had put up a similar proposal with the TELCO to provide customised chassis, but it was turned down. Recently, a team of engineers visited the TELCO plant at Jamshedpur where the company agreed to incorporate designing changes as per BEST’s requirement. But TELCO has not even provided us with a prototype of the customised chassis,” he said. “As soon as we clear the prototype, we will obtain a separate quotation for 50 chassis from them, and a suitable proposal will be presented to the committee,” he added.

Later, the Sena’s Suhas Samant raised an amendment motion for approval. A tie emerged in voting with the BJP members opposing the motion. The proposal was approved after Arvind Nerkar of the Sena cast his vote in favour. The opposition walked out after this.