Venue for cancelled PM rally, SP College ground, still filled with slush, stirs political row

Modi was to inaugurate a caller enactment of Pune Metro on with different improvement works successful the city. With Maharashtra expected to spell to polls shortly, the BJP was besides to dependable the canvass bulge connected this occasion.

Ex-Pune politician and NCP (SP) metropolis main Prashant Jagtap said, “SP College absorption is doing favouritism to the BJP. SP College doesn’t let immoderate nationalist enactment to usage its crushed successful this way, but for a BJP-Modi rally the crushed was made available. Rs 1 crore has been spent to destruct a crushed astatine a assemblage wherever nationalist and adjacent planetary students travel to study. It is an illustration of however a assemblage tin beryllium biased successful favour of a governmental party.”

Congress president for media and connection (Maharashtra) Akshay Jain said, “It’s pathetic. In the videos the adjacent time it tin beryllium seen the authorities is not astatine each acrophobic astir the ground. Is the crushed for students oregon for governmental agenda? Last twelvemonth for RSS functions SP schoolhouse declared holidays for students truthful that RSS could usage it. The civilization of SP medication has go such, students don’t substance to them.”

“The crushed is for the students. Whatever subsidised onshore the authorities mightiness person fixed is for the payment of the students. Why was factual used? That has wholly ruined the crushed and it mightiness instrumentality lakhs oregon crores of rupees to level the ground, which volition beryllium borne from students’ fees. Maha Metro mightiness wide retired their operation but who volition bash the levelling of the ground? The assemblage volition bash it utilizing students’ fees. That declaration volition besides beryllium fixed to a politician. Modi is not the Prime Minister of the BJP, he’s the Prime Minister of the country. The promotion was done for BJP with lotus symbols. Even Murlidhar Mohol had enactment banners and societal media posts of BJP and lotus,” Jain added.

Pune Metro PRO Hemant Sonawane said, “The lawsuit had programmes from six-seven ministries. We were the nodal agency. We are successful interaction with the owners of SP College and we volition reconstruct the crushed conscionable similar they inquire america to. This has thing to bash with immoderate party, we volition reconstruct it. The concern section volition cipher the budget for the event. I don’t person the estimate.”

On whether they had support to determination concrete, Sonawne said, “Whatever was needed to beryllium done for the rally, we had to bash it. When we inquire for support for a rally we don’t specify everything, it is implied. All different options were besides considered similar MIT College crushed wherever an earlier lawsuit took place, Sakal ground, and constabulary ground. SP was decided arsenic it was adjacent and the biggest.”

Adv Sadanand Phadke, president, Shikshana Prasaraka Mandali, nether the aegis of which SP College was established successful 1916, said, “The archetypal question that needs to beryllium asked is erstwhile PM’s code is planned and its venue is finalised, is determination adjacent a question of saying no? We bash not person the authorization to bash that.”

Phadke besides pointed retired that erstwhile the crushed is taken nether the Special Protection Group (SPG), they don’t fto anyone other in. He said a batch of enactment was done connected the crushed utilizing girders and factual truthful rains don’t go an obstacle for the event.

“I visited the crushed the nighttime earlier the code was scheduled. The slush was knee-deep and past determination was a reddish alert, it didn’t look imaginable for the code to instrumentality place. Now it is their work to get the crushed backmost to mean and they are moving towards it. In that clip play if idiosyncratic wants to usage the ground, they volition beryllium inconvenienced.”

Talking astir a video which has been doing rounds connected the involvement wherever immoderate radical are seen calling retired “the menace that the SP crushed has turned into”, Phadke said, “In the clip, towards the extremity determination is 1 condemnation that conscionable similar this BJP has turned the full state into slush. That intelligibly shows that it is made by a idiosyncratic with definite agenda.”

BJP media incharge Sanjay Mayekae said, “This lawsuit was not organised by the BJP but by Pune Metro (Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd). SP College does not springiness retired its crushed to immoderate governmental party. But it gives its crushed to governmental organisations similar the PMC etc. The Metro is funded by the Union, state, and metropolis governments. Where does the question of BJP travel in?”

Three days aft his sojourn to Pune was cancelled, Modi inaugurated the Shivajinagar to Swargate agelong of Pune Metro connected Sunday done video-conferencing.