The time for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections is drawing near, and the political air is getting stingier with each passing day. After the recent uproar on the statue removal issue, all party leaders in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will meet this week to decide on mutual withdrawal of police complaints filed against corporators, informed Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal said on Monday. The complaints were filed following the rumpus during the general body meeting held on December 25, 2010 after the shifting of Dadoji Konddeo statue from Lal Mahal.

On December 25, Shiv Sena and BJP corporators had overturned tables, smashed chairs, and pulled out microphones during the general body meeting. Municipal secretary Sunil Narayan Parkhi then went ahead to lodge a complaint against 21 corporators who were involved in the ruckus mainly from the BJP, Shiv Sena and the MNS. The complaints were registered under sections 143, 146, 147, 148, 149, 323, 427 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 7 of the Prevention to Damage to Public Property Act and 37 (1) (3) read with 23 of the Bombay Police Act.

On the other side of the coin, Sena corporator Vijay Maratkar also lodged a complaint against 19 Congress-NCP corporators, which was registered under similar sections. In his complaint, Maratkar said that the suspects had damaged chairs and tables at the Shiv Sena office in the PMC building, causing a loss of about Rs 2 lakh.

“Initially, after the statue removal incident, things did get a bit murky, but now politicians have decided to come forward and solve the issue amicably. Personally, I feel that there should not be any bitterness in the corporation and all parties should show maturity and move on from what happened in the PMC,” Rajpal said.

- Siddhartha Laik