MUMBAI: Congress leader and former corporator Ravi Raja, who was the opposition leader in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said of the Congress’s 29 corporators, reservations for 21 wards were changed.
Raja alleged that Iqbal Chahal, the BMC chief, had made a systematic attempt to finish the Congress from Mumbai.
“This seems to be unfair and part of a plan by the ruling party. Chahal is responsible for this and the lottery is a systematic attempt to finish the Congress party. He has taken a supari to finish the Congress” Raja said.
Raja’s own ward no 182 in Sion has been reserved for women and he will now have to hunt for a new ward to fight the polls which are scheduled for September/October 2022.
“The Congress has always opposed the arbitrary conduct of the municipal commissioner. The arbitrariness of the commissioner has not stopped even after his appointment as administrator. They are secretly making many important decisions. We opposed several proposals, which were approved by the commissioner. So he has taken revenge. We will soon decide on challenging this lottery system in court,” Raja said.
“The BMC has used a preferential lottery system whereby a ward which had not been reserved for the previous elections has been reserved for women. The rules state that all wards are to be treated as new wards and the lottery has to be conducted afresh. So this preferential system was not in tune with the law. We will consult our legal team and senior party leaders and then decide on how to move courts,” Raja said.
Raja alleged that Iqbal Chahal, the BMC chief, had made a systematic attempt to finish the Congress from Mumbai.
“This seems to be unfair and part of a plan by the ruling party. Chahal is responsible for this and the lottery is a systematic attempt to finish the Congress party. He has taken a supari to finish the Congress” Raja said.
Raja’s own ward no 182 in Sion has been reserved for women and he will now have to hunt for a new ward to fight the polls which are scheduled for September/October 2022.
“The Congress has always opposed the arbitrary conduct of the municipal commissioner. The arbitrariness of the commissioner has not stopped even after his appointment as administrator. They are secretly making many important decisions. We opposed several proposals, which were approved by the commissioner. So he has taken revenge. We will soon decide on challenging this lottery system in court,” Raja said.
“The BMC has used a preferential lottery system whereby a ward which had not been reserved for the previous elections has been reserved for women. The rules state that all wards are to be treated as new wards and the lottery has to be conducted afresh. So this preferential system was not in tune with the law. We will consult our legal team and senior party leaders and then decide on how to move courts,” Raja said.
