BMC Fell Flat on Its Face: Uddhav Faction on HC Relief for Latke

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Thursday said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had faced huge embarrassment with the Bombay High Court directing it to accept the resignation of Rutuja Latke.

The court earlier in the day asked the BMC to accept Latke’s resignation, paving the way for her to contest November 3 byelection to the Andheri East Assembly constituency as the candidate of the `Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ party.

Party leader and former Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said the BMC was an autonomous body and it should not make “a joke of itself” by working under political pressure. I have been saying this since the beginning that the BMC will fall flat on its face, she added.

Latke, employed as a clerk with the BMC, in her petition in the high court had alleged that the corporation was not taking decision on her resignation in order to stop her from filing nomination for the election. The last date for filing nominations in October 14.

The byelection became necessary due to the death of Latke’s husband and incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke. Sushma Andhare, another leader of the Thackeray faction, said the BMC did the same thing when it denied permission to the party for the Dussehra rally. The HC later asked it grant the permission. If BMC officers are acting like politicians, they should take membership of political parties. This is not expected from a civic body, she said. The entire party will contest the byelection with full strength, Andhare added.

Anil Parab, senior leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, welcomed the court’s order and appealed the rival parties to let Latke win unopposed. “Maharashtra has a different political culture….If a member of the legislature dies and his family member wants to contest the byelection, it takes place without any contest. They (the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Sena faction) should let this election take place without any contest. It will show that the culture of the state is intact,” the former minister said.

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