BMC bulldozer flattens Shiv Sena (UBT)'s 'illegal' Bandra branch

Pushing the Shiv Sena (UBT) further into a corner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ran a bulldozer on its 'Shakha' (branch) office in Bandra east, contending it was 'illegal', here on Thursday.

The 'shakha' of the party led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was located at Nirmal Nagar, a prime location and a hub of Shiv Sainiks loyal to the Sena (UBT).

Interestingly, the 'shakha' was barely a stone's throw away from the Thackeray bungalow 'Matoshri', and has now evoked sharp reactions from the party leaders.

Senior Sena (UBT) leader and MP Arvind Samant flayed the move saying the 'shakha' was over 40 years old and how it was suddenly declared illegal, and wondered if the BMC is dancing to the state government's tune.

"The (Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party) government has stooped to abysmal levels by such vindictive actions... The people are watching everything and there will be repercussions," said Samant.

Another Sena (UBT) leader Haji A. Khan slammed the BMC for abruptly coming and razing the old 'shakha' without even serving a notice.

"This is being done as I refused their offer of Rs 10-crore to join them. They also threatened me with action from the police, CBI, ED, I-T, etc... We shall not be scared by these tactics and will continue to support Uddhav Thackerayji," said a fuming Khan from the demolition site.

Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar virtually brushed away the criticism and commented that "if the 'shakha' is illegal then it will be removed".

The move came days after Thackeray announced a mega-protest march to the BMC headquarters on July 1, to be led by Aditya Thackeray to highlight the corruption going on in the civic body.

The protest-march followed an announcement by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde that a Mumbai Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) would probe an alleged fraud of Rs 12,000-crore expenses incurred by the BMC during the Covid-19 pandemic after a special audit by the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) in March.