GUDI PADWA CELEBRATION RUCKUS BJP-Sena turn inauguration location into battle arena!

As the twin-city welcomed the New Year on the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa, Cheti Chand and Ugadi, the local BJP and Shiv Sena unit turned a venue for inaugurating an elevated storage reservoir (ESR) into an arena with ugly display of chaos and high decibel sloganeering in the Shanti Nagar area of Mira Road on Sunday.

Blaming each other for garnering cheap publicity, sitting corporators of the ward almost came to blows and manhandled each other in a brawl which took place in full public view ahead of the inaugural ceremony arranged by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC).

After the hijack attempt by Shiv Sena cadres, the ESR was finally inaugurated by mayor Dimple Mehta. Thanks to the timely intervention of police personnel and a strict warning by Sr PI Balaji Pandhare, a crisis was diffused. The concerned 4panel ward is represented by BJP corporators, Ashwin Kasodariya, Dinesh Jain, Hetal Parmar and Sena’s Dipti Bhatt. Former allies- BJP and Shiv Sena have now turned into bitter rivals, ever since the former swept the civic polls last year to single handedly wrestle control over the MBMC, pushing the Sena into the opposition.

“After the scuffle, Dipti is in a state of shock and has been admitted to hospital. She is not in a condition to speak.” said her husband Shekhar Bhatt.

“All local corporators irrespective of their parties were invited, in fact it was the panel

Blaming each other for garnering cheap publicity, sitting corporators of the ward almost came to blows and manhandled each other in a brawl which took place in full public view ahead of the inaugural ceremony arranged by the MBMC

which was supposed to host the event. However, by trying to hijack the ceremony, the Shiv Sena unnecessarily raked up the controversy. The ESR is going to ease the water woes of the entire region.” said BJP corporator Aswin Kasodariya.

The incident has once again exposed, the negative effects of the recently introduced 4panel corporator system which has started taking toll on the development of the twin-city. “It is really very unfortunate and hard to believe that these are our elected representatives who are shamelessly fighting like hooligans,” said local resident Jagdish Shah.