MPCC chief denies alterations,says has office in flat basement

MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre today denied that he had made any illegal alteration or addition to his flat in a housing society at Worli in Mumbai, as alleged by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
"I have a flat in the cooperative housing society in Worli like most of the MLAs of the state Assembly. I only have a small office in the basement and if it is found to be illegal after due survey, I am ready to remove it," Thakre told reporters here.
Thakre is one of the top state politicians who were served notice by the BMC recently for allegedly carrying out unauthorised alterations and additions to structures owned by them in Sukhada and Shubhada co-op housing societies located at suburban Worli in Mumbai.

The notices were issued under section 53(1) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (MRTP) Act.
Other top politicians who were issued notices were Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, ministers in the state cabinet Patangrao Kadam and Anil Deshmukh, and Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil.
Ajit Pawar has clarified that he had nothing to do with the illegal alterations.

Meanwhile, responding to a query, the state Congress chief said the possibility of elections due in 2014 being held ahead of schedule, cannot be ruled out.
"As a part of preparation for elections, a meeting of party leaders, from block level to state level, will be held in Pune soon to chalk out strategy for elections," he said.

Thakre also said no decision was taken on the party's candidate for Yavatmal bypoll, necessitated due to the death of MLA Nilesh Parvekar. "The candidate would be finalised after the announcement of the election," he said.
Thakre said Ajit Pawar's "insensitive" remarks had dented to some extent the reputation of the Democratic Front government.
Reacting to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's demand that Ajit Pawar be sacked, Thakre said, "The Democratic Front government does not need any advisor to tell it what it should do".