MNS leaders clash with PMC commissioner over protocol breach

Hindustan Times

7 hours ago

The civic headquarters witnessed high drama on Wednesday after former Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporator, advocate Kishore Shinde, and a group of party workers allegedly stormed into an official meeting held by Pune municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram. MNS workers, including former corporator Kishore Shinde (red top) were taken away by police after causing a ruckus at the Pune Municipal Corporation HQ on Wednesday. (MAHENDRA KOLHE/HT PHOTO)
The incident occurred at around 5 pm when Shinde and group entered unannounced the room where the commissioner was holding a meeting related to solid waste management. According to civic officials, the delegation had come to submit a letter regarding items missing from the commissioner's official bungalow.
Reportedly, commissioner Ram asked them to leave saying in Hindi, 'Who are you? Please go out'. Shinde objected to the use of Hindi and demanded that the commissioner speak in Marathi, asserting his position as a former corporator and two-time assembly election candidate.
This triggered a heated exchange, with Shinde alleging that the commissioner called them 'goons'. In protest, the MNS group staged a sit-in outside the office. The police were called to control the situation, and the protesters were later detained.
Following the incident, the police have filed an FIR against the MNS leaders. A senior police official said that a case was filed late evening against Shinde and the others under section 132 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which deals with assault or use of force against a public servant on duty. The police said that the section was applied due to the serious nature of the confrontation.
Ram told the media, 'They entered without permission and disrupted an ongoing meeting. They insisted I speak in Marathi and threatened to throw me out of Maharashtra. This is a serious breach of protocol. I have lodged a police complaint.'
Shinde, however, denied the allegations. 'We were waiting outside and simply asked about the meeting schedule. Instead, we were insulted, called goons, and our phones were snatched. We will not back down. Let the CCTV footage and mobile videos speak for themselves,' he said.
Later, senior MNS leaders Babu Waghaskar, Ranjit Shirole and Sainath Babar met the commissioner to discuss the matter.
Heavy police deployment at PMC office
After the incident, there was heavy police deployment at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) office. Commissioner Ram contacted the police commissioner following which, the deputy commissioner of police, senior inspectors, and other officers rushed to the spot. All main gates of the PMC building were shut. Even the gates to the commissioner's office were closed due to which, many people got stuck inside. The situation normalised after around 7 pm. By late evening, several MNS workers were taken into custody.
Frequent faceoffs: Political aggression inside PMC continues
The latest incident involving MNS leader Kishor Shinde is part of a pattern of disruptive protests by political leaders within the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), often under the pretext of raising public concerns.
In February 2014, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporators protested the city's garbage crisis by dumping waste on the table of then municipal commissioner Vikas Deshmukh. The BJP leaders, including Anil Shirole and Mukta Tilak, carried trash bags into the PMC building and staged a protest targeting the then Nationalist Congress Party/NCP-Congress administration.
In September 2006, former MLA Deepak Paigude and 10 MNS workers barged into then commissioner Nitin Kareer's office, locked the doors from inside, and held him hostage for over two hours demanding written assurances on road repairs. The police arrested all participants after the protest ended.
In February 2019, Congress corporator (now with the Shiv Sena Shinde faction) Ravindra Dhangekar allegedly got into a physical altercation with additional commissioner Rajendra Nimbalkar during a protest over water hyacinth in the city's lakes. The incident occurred inside the mayor's cabin, and a police case was filed. Dhangekar and others were remanded to one-day police custody.
These recurring confrontations have raised concerns over growing political interference in civic functioning and the safety of administrative officers.