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Pimpri-Chinchwad: Advocate Sachin Bhosale, former city chief and ex-corporator of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the ward structure of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). PCMC released their final ward structure after state government approval on Monday. However, many political parties still continue to criticise the ward structure, saying it's not fair and it's favouring a certain ruling party.
Adv Sachin Bhosale with Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray | Facebook
Adv. Bhosale of Uddhav Sena alleges that Mhatoba Wasti slum from Ward No. 24, Datt Nagar, Padamjee Paper Mill, and Ganesh Nagar was deliberately excluded due to political vendetta in the final ward structure of the PCMC. The state government, the State Election Commission, and the Municipal Commissioner have been named as respondents. The petition is scheduled for hearing on October 15.
In the final ward structure, the Mhatoba Wasti slum area of Ward No. 24 Datt Nagar, Padamjee Paper Mill, Ganesh Nagar has been attached to Ward No. 25 Punawale, Tathawade. The exclusion of Mhatoba Wasti has diminished the possibility of the ward being reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC). Due to this, Bhosale, the former corporator from Shiv Sena (UBT), has approached the court.
Adv. Bhosale stated, "This change was made deliberately out of political malice. The original purpose of reserving the ward for Scheduled Castes has been ignored. Ward No. 24 initially included the Mhatoba slum from Wakad. To ensure that an SC reservation does not fall in Ward No. 24, the Mhatoba slum area has been included in Ward No. 25. This change is likely to affect the representation of the community in the ward. A petition has been filed in the court against this. Through this petition, a demand has been made to preserve the objective of SC reservation by presenting the relevant detailed statistics for Ward No. 24."
"The initial proposed ward structure was kept consistent with that of 2017. A change has been made in the final ward delimitation due to political malice. A petition has been filed in the court regarding this. The hearing is scheduled for October 15," Adv Bhosale added.
Meanwhile, PCMC's Election Department Head Assistant Commissioner Avinash Shinde said, "PCMC has not yet received any notice. Appropriate action will be taken through the legal department once the notice is received."
