Mumbai: Opposition parties, including Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, MNS, AIMIM and Samajwadi Party, staged a walkout from the BMC House on Monday, alleging that leader of the opposition Kishori Pednekar of Shiv Sena (UBT) was “insulted” after being asked to wait in the Mayor’s antechamber despite being officially called for a meeting regarding the protocol department.“We were called for a meeting by the Mayor Ritu Tawde. After reaching on time, we were asked to wait in the antechamber, which we think was incorrect. This is no way of respecting someone’s time,” said Pednekar.Ashraf Azmi, Congress party leader in the BMC, also flagged similar lapses at recent events, including Sion hospital project inauguration and a cleanliness competition announcement attended by actor Akshay Kumar. “All these events are being made out to be political party events instead of ensuring that every elected party in the BMC is made a part of it,” said Azmi.The ruling side, however, maintained that the Opposition members were requested to wait in the antechamber as a mark of respect, and said there was no cause for offence. Shiv Sena’s Yamini Jadhav said, “We make only close people wait in the antechamber. So there’s no need to make an issue of it,” she said.Tawde said she told Pednekar that she will be coming to the antechamber. “We were discussing some party issues and asked Pednekar to wait only for a few minutes. She went in but then left abruptly within a few minutes,” Tawde told TOI. “We wanted to give instructions to the civic protocol department, to ensure that all committee chairpersons are allowed in any civic events and that invites must be sent to them well in advance,” Tawde added.Shiv Sena’s Amey Ghole, who was also present in the Mayor’s cabin, said that he “respectfully” had asked Pednekar to wait and didn’t think it would snowball into such a big issue.was disrespected by the BJP-Shiv Sena in a meeting scheduled at Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde’s chamber regarding BMC’s protocol department.A meeting regarding the BMC’s protocol department, scheduled at Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde’s chamber on Monday afternoon, ended in a walkout by the UBT led opposition party members in the BMC house. Following them were other opposition parties like the Congress, MNS, AIMIM & Samajwadi.
