Congress fumes as BJP MLA holds ‘illegal’ meeting with Navi Mumbai civic officials – Times of India

NAVI MUMBAI: The Congress has lodged a complaint with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner after the local BJP MLA Ganesh Naik held a six-hour long meeting with the civic body officials earlier this week.
The complaint revolves around allegations of undue political influence leading to an “unauthorized meeting” of various NMMC officials at the Vishnudas Bhave auditorium.
Congress workers, in their complaint to the civic chief, cited the General Administrative Department (GAD) rules, 2011, asserting that no politician should preside over a meeting of municipal officials in this manner. They questioned how the civic commissioner Rajesh Narvekar allowed such a gathering to take place.
However, commissioner Narvekar, when contacted by TOI, refuted any official sanction for the meeting. He clarified, “It was a private meeting held at the Vishnudas Bhave auditorium, presumably booked and paid for by someone else. I did not grant approval or permission for this meeting involving officials and the politician.”
Notably, during this meeting, Ganesh Naik had admonished various civic officials for alleged dereliction of duty and corrupt practices. City activists foresee more such political incidents in the run-up to the municipal elections, which may be announced soon.
Ravindra Sawant, the spokesperson for Navi Mumbai Congress, told TOI, “We learned that MLA Naik convened the meeting with several civic officials, primarily from the engineering department, on September 12. The session extended for nearly six hours, during which Naik reprimanded several officials and even issued threats of government action against them. I have registered a complaint with NMMC Commissioner Narvekar, emphasizing that no MLA possesses the authority to convene such a meeting with government or municipal officials as per the GAD rules of 2011. Therefore, we urge NMMC to conduct an inquiry into this incident and investigate why and how municipal staff were compelled to attend Naik’s meeting.”
Sawant additionally noted the presence of several former BJP-affiliated corporators during the meeting at the Vishnudas Bhave auditorium.