Mumbai | September 10, 2026
A dispute over a reserved plot in Jogeshwari East exposed fresh differences between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday, with BJP members walking out of the Improvement Committee meeting and Shiv Sena group leader Amey Ghole boycotting a Standing Committee meeting.
The BJP walkout followed the approval of a proposal concerning a roughly 1,802-square-metre plot in Majas village, Jogeshwari East. The land is reserved for public facilities including a post office, police station, playground, primary and secondary schools, a municipal dispensary, a health centre and a hostel. A portion of the plot is occupied by the Meghwadi Siddhivinayak Cooperative Housing Society.
The proposal seeks to cancel the existing reservation for rehabilitation and resettlement and include the plot in the adjoining residential zone. The reservation has delayed redevelopment of the housing society located on part of the land, according to the report. The proposal had remained pending before the committee for about a month before being placed for consideration on Wednesday.
The issue had earlier been discussed at a joint meeting chaired by the principal secretary of the Urban Development and Housing Department in October 2025. The meeting directed that a proposal to remove the reservation be submitted to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority, or MHADA. The proposal was subsequently placed before the BMC Improvement Committee.
During Wednesday’s meeting, BJP councillor Sandeep Patel opposed the proposal. BJP members sought to keep the matter pending for further consideration. However, the committee approved the proposal despite the opposition, with committee chairperson Sandhya Doshi presiding over the meeting. BJP members then left the meeting in protest.
The land-use dispute unfolded on the same day as a separate confrontation in the BMC Standing Committee. Shiv Sena group leader Amey Ghole accused municipal officials of ignoring councillors’ complaints and boycotted the meeting. The report described the two incidents as a fresh indication of differences between the BJP and the Shiv Sena faction, which are part of the governing Mahayuti alliance in the civic administration.
The episode places the proposed change in the status of a plot reserved for multiple public amenities alongside the redevelopment concerns of a housing society occupying part of the site. The available report does not specify the proposed alternative arrangements for the public facilities listed in the reservation or the next administrative step after the Improvement Committee’s approval.
The proposal’s subsequent processing by the BMC and MHADA, along with any further decision on the land reservation and redevelopment issue, will determine how the Jogeshwari plot is handled.
