The BMC administration has sealed the offices of all political parties located at the BMC headquarters following a fierce scuffle between the rival factions of the Shiv Sena. BMC Administrator and Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told the media on Thursday that the civic body took this step on the instructions of the Mumbai Police following the incident at the civic body’s headquarters on Wednesday. The ground floor of Virasat Bhavan at the headquarters houses the offices of all the major political parties.
Rival Shiv Sena factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde engaged in a heated exchange of words at the party office at the BMC headquarters in south Mumbai on Wednesday evening. Tension remained on the campus for an hour until the police intervened. Shinde-led Balasahebchi Shiv Sena spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre said the civic administration sealed the offices of Shiv Sena, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Samajwadi Party at the headquarters.
A political worker said that when he reached the office on Thursday morning, he found the party office on the ground floor of the BMC headquarters sealed. “Our party office was sealed even before we reached here in the morning,” Chahal said. After the ruckus in the Shiv Sena office, the administration sealed the offices of all the parties last evening. Action has been taken as per the instructions of the police.
Strong debate in BMC
North Central Mumbai MP Rahul Shewale, former standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav and Shinde-led Balasahebchi Shiv Sena former corporator Sheetal Mhatre entered the party office around 5 pm on Wednesday. Sources said former councilors of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) group, including Ashish Chemburkar and Sachin Paudwal, objected to his presence, leading to a heated argument. He said that tension remained for about an hour and before the arrival of the police, the workers of both the parties raised slogans, after which all were removed from the office. Both sides claimed contrary to some reports that there was no attempt by either side to claim the party office.
