The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Standing Committee on Thursday directed that civic administration should be conducted entirely in Marathi after a dispute erupted over an English presentation on the proposed new BMC general body hall.
The issue was raised by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena group leader Yashwant Killedar, the party’s sole member in the committee, and Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Ramakant Rahate. They objected to the civic administration presenting details of the new general body hall in English rather than Marathi.
According to the report by Loksatta, Killedar questioned the ruling party’s urgency to move into the new hall, saying that the presentation could at least have been translated into Marathi. He also criticised the failure to provide the presentation in Marathi and said that his party would continue to insist on the language even if it did not bring electoral gains.
The disagreement intensified when ruling-party corporators allegedly disrupted Killedar’s intervention and did not allow him to speak. Killedar responded by asking the ruling side to acknowledge the mistake. The exchange then widened into a confrontation between ruling-party and Opposition members over the use of Marathi in the civic body’s proceedings.
Standing Committee chairman Prabhakar Shinde intervened as the dispute escalated. He said that the BMC’s administration should be conducted 100% in Marathi and directed that the language requirement be followed. Shinde also warned that although the presentation had not been made in Marathi on this occasion, such a situation would not be accepted in future.
The immediate dispute centred on the proposal for Mumbai’s new general body hall, which had been brought before the Standing Committee for approval. The civic administration’s presentation formed part of the committee’s consideration of that proposal. The report does not provide details of the project’s cost, construction schedule, design or expected date of occupation.
The confrontation highlights the role of language in municipal decision-making, where elected representatives are expected to examine civic proposals and administrative presentations before they are approved. In this case, the disagreement was not over the reported substance of the new hall proposal, but over the language in which the administration presented it to the committee.
The chairman’s direction establishes the immediate administrative position following the meeting: future presentations and civic proceedings should be conducted in Marathi. The BMC’s next presentations before the Standing Committee will indicate how the instruction is implemented.
