MVA allies inaugurate BMC HQ heritage walk

MUMBAI: With just a year to go for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, top leaders of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) including chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, deputy CM Ajit Pawar, revenue minister and Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat visited the civic headquarters in Fort on Thursday evening to inaugurate the guided heritage walk of the building. This project was conceptualised last year by state tourism department headed by Aaditya Thackeray, who attended the event alongside minister of state for tourism Aditi Tatkare and Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap. ‘Aamchi Mumbai’ was the tune of the event as MVA allies shared the stage with the CM indicating that the alliance has opened up new opportunities for all three parties involved. This is also the first time that Ajit Pawar and Balasaheb Thorat stepped into the civic headquarters, with

Thorat taking a jibe at the CM saying, “You did not give us a chance to come here (BMC headquarters).”

Pawar said, “I have been in the Vidhan Bhavan since 1990 and Balasaheb Thorat has been here since 1985, but we did not get a chance to visit the BMC headquarters. I got this chance now because of Aaditya Thackeray.”

CM Thackeray, who was sitting on the mayor’s chair for the event, said he did not imagine he would sit in the Mumbai mayor’s chair as the chief minister of the state. He said, “This has been possible due to my new allies. Like you [Pawar and Thorat] got a chance to visit the civic general body hall due to the new alliance, similarly I got a chance to go there [Mantralaya].”

After Thursday’s inauguration, the BMC headquarters is now open to tourists who can book guided tours of the building online on Bookmyshow.com.

Speaking at the inauguration, Aaditya said, “Soon, we will start unguided tours for tourists, with bar codes placed at various locations. Tourists can scan this code for more information.”