BMC has no right to levy tax till roads are pothole-free: BJP

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has no right to levy street tax till roads in the city become pothole-free, BJP's city unit president Ashish Shelar said here today.
"Our stance is that BMC has no right to levy street tax till roads in the city become pothole-free," Shelar said.
To a query on Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's announcement today that no property tax will be levied on houses below 500 sq ft, Shelar said a similar demand had been made by him as a legislator to the state government, which gave a 'positive response' to it.
The BMC gets around Rs 500 to 600 crore as revenue through street tax but the condition of the roads is pathetic, Shelar said. "That is why, we feel that citizens should get relief from the 'tax terrorism' of the corporation," he said.

Meanwhile, there is no indication yet of a pre-poll alliance between BJP and Sena for the BMC polls, slated on February 21.
Joint talks between leaders of the two parties haven't yielded any concrete result so far, with each party wanting a bigger share of the 227 seats in the civic body.