Sena member thrown out of PMC meet

PUNE, July 22: Pandemonium reigned supreme during the general body meeting of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday, as the Congress-R...

PUNE, July 22: Pandemonium reigned supreme during the general body meeting of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday, as the Congress-Republican Party of India (RPI) sponsored adjournment motion demanding immediate dismissal of the State Government kicked off a heated debate.

Tension mounted as Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Bodke was told by mayor Vandana Chavan to leave the meeting hall for passing a snide comment against her. This was followed by an unprecedented din in the hall as the Congress-RPI corporators demanded Bodke’s expulsion, while their Sena-Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) counterparts indulged in counter sloganeering.

A hundred RPI activists, who had occupied the galleries prior to the meeting, added to the commotion by indulging in anti-government sloganeering. The RPI men, led by party corporator Chandrakanta Sonkamble, made a dramatic entry into the meeting hall with a huge banner condemning the State Government, the police and Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and his deputy Gopinath Munde, for their failure to maintain law and order in the State.

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Bodke protested against the disturbance caused by the RPI activists’ shrill slogans. However, the mayor backed by her party corporators, took a serious view of his comment chiding her for her inability to conduct the meeting properly and asking her to leave.

Vandana made repeated requests to Bodke to either apologise and take back his words or leave the meeting hall. When he refused to do so, she ordered him to leave the hall. The Sena corporator walked out in a huff even as the debate over the adjournment motion continued.

Earlier, RPI corporator Ashok Kamble tabled the adjournment motion seeking dismissal of the State Government holding it responsible for the firing that left 11 persons dead in Mumbai.