Hold BMC elections at the earliest: Aaditya Thackeray in Maharashtra Assembly

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday demanded holding of the long-pending elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is currently under a Maharashtra government-appointed administrator.

Speaking in the assembly, the MLA from Worli in Mumbai pointed out that the metropolis doesn't have corporators for more than two years now and posts of 15 civic ward officers are lying vacant.

"People have to go to local MLAs for the work which has to be done at the civic-level," maintained the former Maharashtra minister as he pushed for holding polls to the country's richest civic body at the earliest so that the city gets elected representatives.

State Industries Minister Uday Samant told the house the government has asked the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) to start the process to fill the vacant posts of ward officers.

Elections to the BMC and some other big municipal corporations, including those of Thane and Pune, are due since early 2022.

Senior IAS officer Bhushan Gagrani, the current municipal commissioner, is also functioning as the administrator of the civic body, which in February saw presentation of a Rs 59,954.75 crore budget for the year 2024-25.