BMC showdown: Mayor Ritu Tawde alleges Kishori Pednekar entered office and filmed docus, seeks police action

MUMBAI: The political sparring between the ruling party and the opposition intensified at the BMC headquarters on Friday over recent monsoon-related accidents and the civic body's functioning.Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde accused leader of the opposition and former mayor Kishori Pednekar of barging into the mayor's office, misbehaving with staff, recording videos inside the office, and photographing confidential documents. The mayor said she has written to the police seeking the registration of a complaint.According to Mayor Tawde, the incident took place at around 3.45 pm on Friday while she was inspecting various parts of the city to review the condition of manholes, trees and other monsoon-related civic works.

During her absence, Pednekar allegedly entered the mayor's office.The Mayor alleged that Pednekar engaged in a heated argument with office staff, threatened them, recorded videos of the office premises and took photographs of important and confidential documents. Tawde said that while every elected representative has the right to seek information, photographing confidential documents is against the rules.

Describing the act as a "recce" of the Mayor's office, she said she would request the police to register a case.Pednekar, however, rejected the allegations outright. She said she had visited the mayor's office only to follow up on a letter she had submitted demanding a special BMC general body meeting in the wake of recent incidents involving falling trees, open manholes and other monsoon-related accidents in Mumbai.

According to her, as she had not received any response to the letter, she went to the Mayor's office to inquire about its status.

She maintained that her sole intention was to seek answers from the civic administration.Responding to Pednekar's claims, Mayor Tawde said monsoon preparedness and the city's water supply had already been discussed at length in the BMC House during a meeting that continued late into the night. She added that the civic administration was working continuously with citizens' safety as its top priority.