The controversy surrounding the alleged 'Pati Raj' in Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) intensified on Thursday after BJP city president Dayashankar Tiwari admitted that former corporator Munna alias Omprakash Yadav should not have attended an official review meeting at Laxmi Nagar zone earlier this week.
Responding to growing criticism over unelected spouses allegedly influencing civic functioning, Tiwari defended Yadav's intent, saying he attended the meeting only to raise a serious sewerage choke-up issue affecting residents in the locality. "He was concerned about the public health implications arising out of the sewerage problem and wanted to bring it to the notice of officials," Tiwari told TOI.
The May 4 meeting, chaired by zonal chairperson Laxmi Yadav, was convened to review civic departments including sanitation, nullah cleaning, water supply, tax recovery, and streetlight maintenance. However, several corporators alleged that Munna Yadav, who currently holds no elected position, dominated proceedings by questioning officials and issuing directions.
While attempting to defuse the controversy, Tiwari acknowledged that the former corporator's presence during the official proceedings was inappropriate. "He should have avoided attending the meeting and instead met officials separately the next day or at another appropriate time," he said. The BJP leader also referred to remarks made earlier by Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who had stressed that women elected to local bodies must be allowed to function independently and exercise their authority without interference.
The incident has triggered a wider political and administrative debate over whether women's reservation in urban local bodies is translating into genuine leadership on the ground. Though BJP has projected women-led governance in NMC by assigning key posts such as mayor, deputy mayor, standing committee chairperson, and zonal sabhapatis, repeated appearances of spouses in official functioning have raised concerns over the emergence of parallel power centres.
Party insiders claimed that such incidents were not confined to Laxmi Nagar zone alone. Similar instances of spouses informally influencing civic functioning were allegedly being witnessed in Lakadganj and Satranjipura zones as well. The controversy gained traction after former Congress corporator Arun Dawre was seen attending a zonal meeting chaired by his wife and corporator Seema Dawre on Wednesday.
Leader of Opposition and senior Congress corporator Sanjay Mahakalkar said that with 50% reservation for women corporators in the 151-member general body, elected women representatives should be allowed to function independently. He stressed that husbands of women corporators should refrain from attending official meetings.
