Corporators hurl abuses, snacks in canteen brawl

Two Congress corporators got into an ugly brawl inside the cafeteria at the BMC headquarters on Thursday evening. Sujit Mahamulkar reports.

Two Congress corporators got into an ugly brawl inside the cafeteria at the BMC headquarters on Thursday evening.

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The fight, sparked during a conversation about sitting corporator Nirmaladevi Singh's defeat in the recent polls, turned messy when she flung a cup of tea and a plate of snacks at her partyman. At the receiving end was Kisan Mistry, sitting corporator from ward number 144.

Fellow corporators claim the two share an uncomfortable political history. For this year's elections, Mistry's ward was declared a women's ward and the Congress fielded Nirmaladevi Singh as its candidate. However, Singh was vanquished in the polls. She held a grudge against Mistry, attributing her defeat to the sitting corporator's lack of support. This simmering discontent finally came to a boil on Thursday in the BMC canteen.

Most corporators had turned up for what was one of the last meetings of the outgoing general body. Singh was having snacks with fellow corporators at the cafeteria just outside the hall, when she was quizzed by a Shiv Sena corporator about her defeat.

Singh squarely blamed Mistry for her loss. Eye-witnesses said Singh started shouting at Mistry, who in turn, allegedly retorted that she had no electoral merit and had got the ticket merely because of her influence with a Member of Parliament. At this, an infuriated Singh hurled a cup of tea and a plate of curry (misal) at Mistry. The two exchanged the choicest of expletives, before they were ushered out by fellow corporators.