Foundation-stone laying ceremony of flyover turns farce

Foundation-stone laying ceremony of flyover turns farce
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NASHIK, FEB 24: The foundation-stone laying ceremony of the first flyover in Nashik city became farcical on Thursday when Shiv Sena corporators insisted on the inclusion of local MLA Babanrao Gholap's name on the plaque.

The omission of his name was reason enough for the corporators to boycott the function and organise another ceremony to install yet another marble plaque with the MLAs name at the same spot within a month.

The foundation-stone laying ceremony of the flyover was earlier planned on February 20, but as the Minister of State for Home, Kripashankar Singh was scheduled to visit the city on February 22, it was postponed.

But the minister did not visit Nashik as per schedule and so the function was organised on Thursday and the Bhoomi-Pooja was done by a local priest Annasaheb More.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, local Shiv Sena corporators had discovered that the marble plaque to be installed at the site did not include the name of Gholap and that he had not been invited for the function either. So they insisted that his name be engraved alongwith other cityfathers, who were mainly from the Congress and the NCP.

The plaque was thereafter changed but it even this did not mollify the agitated Sena corporators, as Gholap's name had not been engraved but instead radium stickers bearing his name had been pasted on it.

On Thursday, Sena corporators and local leaders boycotted the function in protest and announced that a seperate ceremony would be organised within a month and Uddhav Thackeray would lay the foundation stone for the same.

The Municipal Commissioner, Krishnakant Bhoge, stayed away from the function while the local Sena MP Uttamrao Dhikale, former Mayor Vasant Gite and others left in a huff.

The NMC went ahead with the programme in the presence of the Mayor Shobha Bachhav. Gholap, on the other hand, has accused the Congress-run NMC of being biased and announced that he would raise the issue in the legislative assembly as local elected representatives (like him) were not getting due respect as he was neither invited for the function nor did his name figure on the marble plaque installed at the site.