Now, Deepak Kesarkar gets an office in BMC

While the BMC said that this was being done for a better connect with citizens, opposition parties have reacted strongly. Their contention is that despite having public offices in Mantralaya, ministers are being given offices at the BMC to garner more votes for the upcoming civic elections

MUMBAI: Despite getting flak from former BMC opposition parties for granting office space to suburban guardian minister M P Lodha, the civic body has now extended this privilege to city guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar. On Tuesday, it issued a press statement that an office had been made available to Kesarkar, who would be available every Wednesday from 1 pm to 4 pm at the BMC headquarters to interact with citizens.

Deepak Kesarkar himself denied that he was setting up an office in the BMC. “I am just facilitating people to resolve their problems and issues,” he claimed. “In the absence of an elected body in the BMC, it is necessary to have better coordination between government agencies like Mhada, SRA and the police force” (PTI)

While the BMC said that this was being done for a better connect with citizens, opposition parties have reacted strongly. Their contention is that despite having public offices in Mantralaya, ministers are being given offices at the BMC to garner more votes for the upcoming civic elections.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray declared he was not even surprised to hear about this. “This illegal regime has taken on the responsibility of getting inside the BMC illegally and destroying our beautiful city at the behest of its bosses,” he said.

Ravi Raja, Congress leader and former leader of the opposition in the BMC, said that if ministers were going to be given offices at the BMC, the leader of the opposition in the assembly too ought to be given one. “Vijay Wadettiwar also holds a constitutional post, so why can’t he be given an office?” demanded Raja. “The BMC commissioner is going against the law. This is a complete takeover of the institution.”

Raja added that they wanted to know how many citizens had actually visited the ministers in the BMC. “Or is this just the BJP’s way of taking over the BMC since the civic body has such a huge budget?” he commented.

Calling the move totally unacceptable, MLA Rais Shaikh, former corporator and Samajwadi Party leader in the BMC, said, “Kesarkar ji has encroached on the BMC building. There is no statutory law that prescribes an office for a guardian minister. So on what basis is this being done? This is unacceptable and a clear encroachment on the rights of the local body.”

NCP leader and national spokesperson Clyde Crasto, remarked that he smelled an ulterior motive; that since there were no corporators in the BMC, the BJP was getting its own corporator candidates to garner votes. “If the guardian ministers really want to help people, they should sit in BMC hospitals because the hospitals have a lot of issues,” he said. “They are trying to do a lot of other things in the name of helping people. Nowhere in the history of the BMC in any rule book is it written that guardian ministers can or should get offices in the BMC. We will raise this issue on the floor of the house.”

Iqbal Chahal, administrator and civic chief, refused to comment on the issue.

In July, when his decision to give an office to Lodha was questioned, Chahal had defended the move, saying that Lodha’s intention was to reach citizens through former corporators. He had added that he had to follow written instructions from the government and also mentioned that the government had started an initiative to bring government services to citizens’ doorsteps.

Deepak Kesarkar himself denied that he was setting up an office in the BMC. “I am just facilitating people to resolve their problems and issues,” he claimed. “In the absence of an elected body in the BMC, it is necessary to have better coordination between government agencies like Mhada, SRA and the police force.”

Taking a potshot at Aaditya Thackeray, Kesarkar said that the Thackeray scion believed that the BMC was “their own property” and was thus worried about ruling party ministers taking an interest in civic issues. “There is nothing wrong with a guardian minister sitting at the BMC to take up civic issues,” he said. “I visit the collector’s office too and meet people who come with issues related to the revenue department.”