Mumbai: BMC has removed red-and-blue beacons from the official vehicles of mayor Ritu Tawde, deputy mayor Sanjay Ghadi and leader of the House in BMC Ganesh Khankar of BJP following a controversy over their use. Calling it a lapse by the civic administration, Tawde said it provided the car and she has no interest in using a beacon. CM Devendra Fadnavis asserted she is not to be blamed. In a bid to end VIP culture, the central govt had in 2017 banned beacons on all vehicles, barring those used for emergency, law and order, and disaster management. A beacon on the mayor’s escort vehicle, which typically carries personal assistants and the protocol officer, was also removed. The issue was flagged on X on March 11, when a user—@shivsainik007—asked whether the mayor’s vehicle had permission to install police-style red-and-blue lights. The post had a picture of Tawde’s car with a beacon. The matter escalated last Friday when RTI activist Anil Galgali wrote to the mayor, objecting to the use of the beacon. “It has been noticed that unauthorised use of red and blue lights is made on the official vehicle as well as the escort vehicle. As per the instructions issued by the central govt, the use of such lights has been restricted and is permissible only for specific emergency services. This matter should be taken seriously and necessary action should be taken immediately,” he said in his letter. The use of the beacons also drew political criticism. Leader of the opposition in BMC and former mayor Kishori Pednekar from Shiv Sena (UBT) said it was against the Centre’s move. “VIP culture was ended by PM Narendra Modi and the central govt, but the mayor of Mumbai could not resist the allure of VIP culture. Has the mayor become bigger than the PM and the CM?” Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Milind Narvekar also targeted Tawde on X. Following the outrage, the mayor said it was the civic administration’s “mistake”. “I have told the BMC commissioner that while providing an official vehicle to the mayor, the administration should have checked what was permissible. What is my mistake? I will use the vehicle provided to me, and if there were rules around it, they should have been followed,” she said, adding that she wasn’t giving much weight to the opposition’s criticism. Fadnavis told reporters that the beacon was not mounted on the roof of the mayor’s vehicle but on the bonnet. “The mayor cannot be blamed for this. Our earlier decision clearly states no one should use a red beacon and the mayor is fully aware of this. She is being targeted without reason, which is not right.” Downplaying the controversy, Khankar told TOI, “The opposition cannot digest that BJP has been on work mode in BMC since Day 1. So, it is making an issue of such things. None of us demanded these beacons or any specific vehicle.” In Oct 2017, following the ban, the Tardeo RTO issued a notice to a BMC executive engineer over the use of a red beacon by the official car of then mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar from Shiv Sena.
