Mumbai: Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad on Friday released a ‘chargesheet’ highlighting alleged irregularities in BMC works and corruption in public fund expenditure. She accused the BJP-led Mahayuti govt of allegedly looting public money through the appointed BMC administrator and neglecting essential civic services after the term of elected representatives ended in March 2022.Speaking to reporters, Gaikwad alleged that the BMC has failed to ensure transparency and accountability in governance as she released documents listing the status of various civic infrastructure projects and alleged corrupt practices, including a Rs 5,000-crore PAP scam, Rs 87-crore Gokhale bridge scam and the Mithi river scam. The Congress MP was joined by party MLAs Amin Patel, Aslam Shaikh and Jyoti Gaikwad, along with leaders Bhai Jagtap and Sachin Sawant, in Bandra.The Congress, in the chargesheet, alleged that for three years and nine months, the Mahayuti govt had denied Mumbaikars their voting rights. Listing 13 points, the party termed BMC ‘Brasht Mahayuti Corporation’ and claimed that key issues like traffic congestion, air pollution, public transport, water supply, healthcare, and education have been ignored.“Through the BMC administrator, the Mahayuti govt has looted the people of Mumbai. Mumbaikars are deprived of even basic civic amenities. The city has been virtually sold off to contractors and favoured industrialists, leading to the decline of the country’s financial capital. BMC has turned into a ‘Brasht Mahayuti Corporation’,” she alleged.“Congress will focus on Mumbaikars’ issues in the election,” she added. “The party will soon release its manifesto…Mumbai’s election should be fought not on the basis of caste, religion, region, or language, but on Mumbai’s real issues. Mumbaikars do not want controversy; they want development.”In the past, the BJP had raised corruption concerns in the BMC, accusing the Uddhav Thackeray-led then undivided Shiv Sena, which governed the civic body for over two decades, of misappropriating funds in Covid-related procurement and the Mithi river scam.
