BJP Faces Setback as BMC Proposal to Hand Over Wadala Plot Fails to Clear Vote
In a significant embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which controls the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a proposal to hand over a 30,000 square meter plot to a private real estate developer failed to clear the vote. This marks the first time since the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP and Shiv Sena, assumed office in February, that a proposal was stalled despite their support.
On Thursday, the proposal to redevelop the existing housing tenements in Wadala, occupied by municipal workers and families of traditional mill workers, was brought to the floor as an 'urgent bill' (UB). The opposition parties, including the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), jointly voted against the clearance, leading to the bill's failure.
The proposal, listed as item number eight in the agenda, was moved to the top for discussion as an urgent matter. At the time of voting, 119 members were present, with 61 from the ruling alliance and 58 from the opposition. The total corporator strength of the BMC is 227, with the ruling alliance of the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) holding 118 seats—89 for the BJP and 29 for the Shinde-led Sena. The opposition bloc is led by the Shiv Sena (UBT) with 65 seats, followed by the Congress with 24 seats, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) with 6, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) with 1.
According to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) act, an urgent bill requires three-fourths of the votes in its favor for clearance. In this case, the bill needed 90 votes to pass. However, with the entire opposition voting against it, the bill could only secure 61 votes, leading to its failure.
Ganesh Khankar, a BJP corporator and leader of the house in BMC, expressed his disappointment, stating, 'This proposal was tabled as an UB since it was a matter of public interest, but the opposition refrained from voting in favor of it. This is absolutely unfair since it stalls the city’s scope for growth. We (BJP) were also in the opposition till the last term, but not once did we vote against an UB.'
Leaders of the opposition parties, however, maintained that they were not opposing the bill in principle but were against the manner in which the ruling alliance wanted it to pass. Ashraf Azmi, Congress group leader and corporator, said, 'This proposal got cleared in the civic standing committee earlier this month and as per the regulations, it should have been brought to the house after 90 days. To ensure the bill gets cleared immediately, the ruling alliance tabled it as an UB. This is not an urgent issue. Who is the BMC trying to benefit by clearing it so fast?'
Sena UBT corporator, Sachin Padwal, added, 'Earlier this month, the proposal of desilting Mithi River was tabled in the house as an UB, and we voted for it because it is of public interest. A proposal pertaining to giving away land to a private builder is not related to public interest in any way. Therefore, we opposed it entirely.'
This setback highlights the increasing tensions between the ruling and opposition parties within the BMC, raising questions about the future of similar proposals and the city's development plans.
