Thane, Oct 19 State Transport Minister and Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik has written to Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, demanding the immediate disqualification of BJP MLA Narendra Mehta and other corporators from Mira Bhayandar, alleging “gross misconduct”.
Notably, Shiv Sena and BJP are allies in the Mahayuti government.
Addressing media persons on Monday, Sarnaik detailed the contents of his official communication, which has also been formally marked and dispatched to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, the Director General of Police, and the Police Commissioner, among other top authorities.
The letter alleged that during the early hours of October 16, Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation Commissioner Radhabinod Sharma’s official residence was allegedly besieged by a hostile mob.
Around 2 AM, local MLA Narendra Mehta, joined by 40 to 50 corporators and hundreds of unruly supporters, surrounded the commissioner’s bungalow while the bureaucrat was resting with his wife and two young children, according to the letter.
Sarnaik alleged that the midnight gherao was a deliberate act of coercion and intimidation designed to pressure the civic chief into filing false criminal charges under Section 353 of the IPC against journalists and social activists.
Hours prior to the incident, violence had erupted at the municipal general body meeting where corporators had allegedly assaulted citizens, media personnel, and activists who were demanding live-streaming of the proceedings, he said.
Alleging the breakdown in law and order, Sarnaik noted that Police Commissioner Niket Kaushik had to personally rush to the spot between 2 am and 2:30 am to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control.
He said the failure of police to arrive in time could have endangered the lives of the commissioner and his family.
In his formal representation to the Governor, Sarnaik called for exemplary administrative and legal action, demanding that MLA Narendra Mehta’s assembly membership be immediately revoked under Section 13 of the Representation of the People Act and legislative rules concerning gross misconduct and violation of the code of conduct for public representatives.
The corporators who participated in the midnight siege and assault on journalists face immediate disqualification from their posts under the relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, he stated.
He demanded that all unruly activists accompanying the crowd be booked under stringent criminal sections and arrested without delay.
Sarnaik also sought a transparent and impartial inquiry into the entire episode to be conducted through a special investigative committee of the IAS Officers’ Association.
“If strict and exemplary action is not taken against those who take the law into their own hands, it will severely demoralise administrative officers and erode the foundations of democracy in the state,” he added.
(PTI News)
