PMC administrator acting as NCP agent; conduct early elections, says BJP

PUNE As the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the state election commission to hold elections after monsoon, it is now clear that the administrator will be incharge of the civic body and its operations for the next four to five months.

Both, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) city units have demanded that the state election commission conduct the civic polls earlier in the city as it is not right to keep the city and the house without elected representatives for more than 6 months.

The tenure of the ruling BJP at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) ended in the first week of March, since the, PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar has been the administrator.

BJP’s city unit president Jagdish Mulik said, “The municipal commissioner is working an NCP agent now. Earlier, when the BJP was in power, the civic body had taken various decisions, however, the commissioner is not executing it on priority.”

“If there are elected members, they keep pressure on the administration. Now, there is water crisis in the city and pre-monsoon work is delayed. As it is clear that the BJP will be back in power, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will try to postpone the elections. Our demand is to hold the elections earlier,” added Mulik.

NCP city unit president Prashant Jagtap said, “We respect the apex court’s decision, but at the same time, it was our will to get OBC reservation.”

“Pune is a huge city and keeping the city without elected members in municipal corporation is not good. The administrator also has limitations when it comes to taking any policy decisions. Many committees are not functional, which has brought a halt to crucial policy decisions. We are prepared for the elections, and demand that it be held sooner,” added Jagtap.