BMC nod to smart city plan, but with Sena’s conditions

MUMBAI: The city will continue to be a contender for the Centre’s smart city project challenge, as the civic body on Tuesday cleared the proposal in the general body meeting.

But, conditions apply. A belligerent Shiv Sena pushed 14 amendments to the original proposal and gave its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ultimatum. The BJP accepted all amendments without a fight, to avoid the embarrassment of not sending a proposal for the PM’S flagship scheme.

The political drama unfolded over three hours, as the Sena told its ally if even one amendment

is not accepted by the Centre and state, the project should be “considered as scrapped”. Two of these amendments came from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Among the amendments is an 85% reservation for sons of the soil, for the 60 lakh jobs the project aims to create.

Not allowing private equity to

implement the project and the involvement of the mayor as the chairman of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project are other demands. The Sena also wants the mayor to have the right to veto any decision the SPV takes.