At the standing committee meeting of the BMC on Monday, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance received support from leaders across political parties when it came to putting an end to what they derisively termed as “Page 3 culture”. At the standing committee meeting of the BMC on Monday, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance received support from leaders across political parties when it came to putting an end to what they derisively termed as “Page 3 culture”.

The ruling Sena-BJP combine in India’s richest urban body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, backed by other political parties want Mumbai’s “page 3 culture” to go, with corporators saying that fashion shows and cocktail parties are not part of the city’s culture and go against its heritage.

Last week’s planned Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) finale at the Bhau Daji Lad museum, which had to be shifted to another venue following protests by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), appears to have riled them in particular.

At the standing committee meeting of the BMC on Monday, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance received support from leaders across political parties when it came to putting an end to what they derisively termed as “Page 3 culture”.

“We cannot let ‘page 3’ culture run the city. We have to save Mumbai’s rich culture. These are not the people who will decide if there can be rooftop restaurants in the city or what will be the future for the Mahalakshmi race course.

Bhau Daji Lad has a certain set of responsibilities as an institution and it should stick to that. You cannot run fashion shows there,” Manoj Kotak, BJP group leader in BMC, said while targeting BMC Commissioner Sitaram Kunte and dubbing him as a “page 3” commissioner.

Supporting BJP’s stand, Sena corporator Ramakant Rahate said, “The museum belongs to the Marathi manoos. We cannot give it away for such events. This is not Mumbai’s culture.”

Claiming that the museum’s managing trustee, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, holds a different view on what constitutes the city’s culture, Samajwadi Party leader Rais Shaikh said, “She (Mehta) cannot keep stating that we (corporators) do not understand Mumbai’s culture. We very well know that parties and shows do not define the city’s culture.”

Slamming Kunte, corporators said the BMC did not have to grant permissions for such events as it was the museum’s decision. They also came down heavily on Kunte’s earlier comments on Aarey turning into Dharavi.

MNS corporator Sandeep Deshpande said, “Kunte, in a works committee meeting, has also said that corporators take money, that they are corrupt. The way he is making public statements, be it Aarey, Bhau Daji Lad or against corporators, I am sure he needs psychiatric treatment.”

In the last few months, corporators across political parties, especially MNS and Sena, have protested recent developments relating to the Bhau Daji Lad museum. They claim the new extension to the city’s oldest museum also includes a plan of usurping the ground attached to the museum, the only playground for the residents living in nearby areas.

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