More than a century-old, the wada was built by the Divan of Sayajirao Gaikwad, the ruler of Baroda. A few descendents of the Diwan, known by the family name of Medhekars now, still live nearby. The Medhekars had sold a large part of the wada to the veteran communist leader, Comrade K T Sule's family, in the early 30s. The remainingpart was rented out to the Durves and the Pradhans (Jayaram and Shivram, brothers-in-law of the mayor). Later, however, Durves offered to buy the rest of the property. ``This offer was accepted and the Durves became our landlord. However, right from the beginning they wanted us to get out,'' the mayor accuses. ``But, me and my husband later rented space on the ground floor in the part owned by the Sules too.'' The mayor pays Rs 25 as rent to the Sules while her brothers-in-law - Shivram Pradahan and Jayaram Pradhan - pay Rs 5 and Rs 2 per month respectively to the Durves.The friction between the Durves and the Pradhans increased when the latter created a doorway to gain direct access to each others houses. ``How can they do this when the property belongs to me?'' Durve asks. He filed a case against the Pradhans at the Kalyan court and won. ``They have gone in appeal against the ruling,'' he says and adds, ``she's trying to use her clout as mayor to achieve what she couldn't in the courts.'' The mayor on herpart alleges that that her landlord has tried every trick in the book to get her family out. She insists that the removal of the Mangalore tiles from the roof by Durve had led to the water leakage.

The Sules, meanwhile, complained that they ``were fed up'' of being caught between the Durves and the Pradhans. Avinash Sule said the mansion which has had eminent visitors like Senapati Bapat and Anna Dange, should now be threatened with demolition ``due to petty quarrels.''