Government of Eknath Shinde forms panel to examine BMC finances in fresh assault on Thackeray

MUMBAI: In an apparent attempt to attack Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), the state government on Tuesday announced the formation of a committee consisting of three senior officials to look into the finances of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the last 25 years. This announcement was made by the Eknath Shinde administration.

In response to a discussion on supplementary demands pertaining to the urban development department, Maharashtra minister Uday Samant stated in the state assembly on Tuesday that the government will present a white paper on BMC’s finances during the assembly’s Budget session in February or March of next year.

Since taking over the BMC in 1985, the Shiv Sena has maintained control over the organization. Before the party broke up into two groups commanded by Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena and BJP had a close race in the 2017 elections, capturing 84 and 82 seats, respectively.

Samant, the acting minister for urban development, said that the investigation would be carried out by the principal secretary of the department of Urban Development, the additional chief secretary of the planning department, and the director of the finance department’s audit team.

“The committee will look into the suspected financial irregularities at BMC over the previous 25 years and report back to the government.” During the budget session, Samant promised the Maharashtra public that a white paper based on the research would be presented in the state assembly.

During the discussion, Mumbai MLAs Yogesh Sagar of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a few others had called for an audit.

The investigation is seen as an attempt to hit the Uddhav Thackeray side of the Shiv Sena. A special investigative team (SIT) was also established by the government in June of this year to look into claims of corruption in nine BMC departments. The Comptroller and Accountant General, whose yearly budget exceeds ₹52,619 crore, red-flagged a number of contracts that the city had awarded.

Anil Parab, the head of Shiv Sena (UBT), said that although the party is not against the BMC investigation, they would want the state government to mandate audits for other municipal corporations controlled by the governing parties.

Parab also questioned the effort to hold the Thackeray-led Sena accountable for the BMC’s woes.

With the exception of the past five years, the Shiv Sena and BJP ruled the BMC jointly for 25 years. There should be consequences for all those accountable for the alleged corruption and irregularities. Not only Mumbai, because it was under the Shiv Sena, but also Nagpur, Pune, Thane, and other municipal corporations should be the subject of the investigation. This is merely an effort to discredit us and an abuse of authority, he said.