Pune: PMC General Body Meeting Adjourned After Model Code Of Conduct Comes Into Force

Pune: The general body meeting of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was abruptly adjourned on Monday after the Model Code of Conduct came into force following the announcement of the Legislative Council election schedule for local body constituencies.

The meeting was in progress with corporators discussing the city’s worsening garbage management situation when the civic administration informed the House that the code of conduct had become effective after communication from the District Collector’s office.

The announcement led to strong objections from opposition corporators, who argued that discussions on important public issues should continue since no policy decisions or resolutions were being passed during the meeting.

Mayor Manjusha Nagpure informed the House that due to the implementation of the code of conduct from May 18, the civic administration would not be able to take major policy decisions until June 25. She also stated that decisions related to tenders in the standing committee would face restrictions during this period.

Several corporators demanded that the discussion on waste management continue, citing the seriousness of the issue affecting the city. However, PMC legal advisor Advocate Nisha Chavan clarified that corporators are voters in the Legislative Council elections and discussions in the House could influence the electoral process, making continuation of the meeting inappropriate under the code of conduct.

Leader of Opposition Nilesh Nikam maintained that there should be no objection to continuing the discussion, as no official resolutions were being approved. Despite repeated objections from members, the Mayor later announced the adjournment of the meeting.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement issued on Tuesday, former Leader of Opposition Ujjwal Keskar, former Leader of Opposition Suhas Kulkarni and former corporator Prashant Badhe questioned the legal basis for halting discussions in the civic body after the election announcement.

Referring to the opinion given by Advocate Nisha Chavan, the leaders stated that stopping discussions in the general body amounted to suppressing democratic functioning within the civic body. They also claimed that no such precedent had taken place earlier in the history of the corporation.

The leaders further questioned the decision to suspend meetings of the Standing Committee, City Improvement Committee, Law Committee and other civic panels. They argued that the Model Code of Conduct does not prohibit democratic discussions, debates or question-answer sessions among elected representatives.

In their statement, they said neither the Election Commission nor legal advisors can decide to suspend democratic functioning in local self-government bodies, adding that elected representatives have a constitutional responsibility to raise public issues and exercise their democratic rights.

They expressed hope that the Mayor and leaders of all political parties in the PMC would soon hold discussions and find a way to ensure that democratic processes within the corporation continue during the election period.

As per the election schedule announced on May 18, the last date for filing nominations is June 1, scrutiny will take place on June 2, the last date for withdrawal is June 4, voting will be held on June 18 from 8 am to 4 pm, and counting of votes will take place on June 22. The entire election process is scheduled to conclude before June 25.