On January 11, former MP and senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Somaiya alleged that Thackeray had concealed assets when he filed his affidavit ahead of the legislative council elections in May 2020. He said that the chief minister did not disclose 19 bungalows—valued at ₹5.29 crore—owned by his wife, Rashmi, and Shiv Sena legislator Ravindra Waikar’s wife, Manisha.
The complaint against Thackeray caused tremors in the state’s political establishment. Somaiya did what no other BJP leader had done—train his guns on the chief minister. For Somaiya, it was yet another salvo in his fight against corruption. Interestingly, all his targets so far have been Shiv Sena leaders and his fight is starting to look like a crusade against the Shiv Sena.
Somaiya exposed irregularities in the management of Covid-19 by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is controlled by the Shiv Sena. Somaiya then claimed that the BMC had bought land worth ₹2.6 crore in Dahisar for ₹354 crore. He also alleged that the BMC’s ₹3,000-crore plan to construct a 5,000-bed Covid-19 hospital in Mulund was a scam. He also went after Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, alleging that she had grabbed and occupied Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) land. “The mayor is running her business, Kish Corporate Services, from the ground floor of a Gomata Janata SRA Society flat,”he said. “This land was not allotted to her or her family members and is meant to serve as a social welfare centre.”In his complaint to Municipal Commissioner I.S. Chahal, Somaiya said that the mayor had given BMC contracts to her family members.
This story is from the February 28, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the February 28, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
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