Seeking to end the weeklong controversy, once and for all, over the Pune pattern, the Shiv Sena has issued an ultimatum to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) demanding all the budgetary powers of Pune Municipal Corporation’s standing committee chairman Shyam Deshpande to be restored by 5 pm on Tuesday or “else we are ready to break away.”

However, NCP leader Anil Bhosale, who has been given the powers to finalise commissioner’s draft budget, said there was no question of returning the budgetary powers as the standing committee members had elected him. He said that the responsibility was given to him after BJP and NCP members complained that only Shiv Sena corporators had received huge budgetary allocations.

At a press conference at the PMC headquarters on Monday, Sena city unit chief Nana Wadekar said, “At present, there is a confusion over the standing committee chairman’s powers. But after holding discussions with the party’s Pune district liaison chief Arvind Sawant, the local leadership has decided to step out of the Pune pattern, an alliance with the NCP, unless the budgetary powers that Bhosale took over are returned with dignity to Deshpande. We will wait till 5 pm and if we do not get what we want, we will step out of the alliance.”

“The Sena is not going to function under anybody’s pressure. We will tender our resignations to the municipal commissioner if there is no response from the NCP,” Deshpande said.

“The Sena’s stand is that if the NCP does not budge, we are not concerned about the Pune Pattern either,” a Sena leader said.

Bhosale said, “I have not been informed about this by the Sena. They should not make it a prestige issue as the standing committee has given me the powers. It is for the sake of development of the city. Hence, it is wrong on the Sena’s part to talk like this.”

“The move came after many BJP and NCP corporators complained that this year’s draft budget has more budgetary allocations for the Sena corporators. There are allegations that the draft budget has been prepared keeping a particular party in mind. Therefore, we are going to prepare a budget that gives equal allocations for all areas of the city,” Bhosale said.

Deshpande refuted the charges saying, “Corporators from all parties including the NCP have got equal distribution, Therefore, Bhosale’s allegations are baseless.”