BMC chief Ajoy Mehta: My hands are clean, and my conscience is clean

The bureaucrat always wins!, shouted an email, which fell into this reporter's inbox stating that the Bombay Gymkhana Club had cancelled its December 31, 2016, New Year Eve party. The shindig had lost its zing after the club was denied a liquor licence for its party to be held in the lawns.

Bombay Gymkhana had to cancel its New Year's Eve bash after it was denied a one-day licence to serve liquor on its lawns

The tenor of that email though was in sync with the mood at the upscale establishment since the past few months. It is all about bureaucrats or babus, that evil entity, haranguing the club and bent on vengeance because permanent membership (post service) has been denied.

Also Read: No vendetta at all against Bombay Gymkhana: BMC chief

BMC chief Ajoy Mehta says his hands and conscience are clean

Eloquent even in silence, fingers are pointing at BMC chief Ajoy Mehta. Though nobody wants to name or shame the babus, it is Mehta's name cropping up repeatedly, as the man who was the trigger behind different kinds of action against the club, the man on a ‘revenge' mission because he didn't get what he wanted.

Pitfalls of work?
"Those who have no work, they are the ones who make allegations," shot back Mehta, when asked why his name is central to the controversy, and why, even if lips are sealed, is there a tacit consensus that because he has not been granted permanent membership, he's creating trouble for the club.

"I have faced so many allegations in a long career because of the nature of my work. Tomorrow, I will demolish illegal floors in a building; to this, they will say Ajoy Mehta demolished them because he did not get a free flat in the building. There are thousands of ways to blame people fighting corruption," he added.

The civic commissioner said one of the earliest initiatives that fuelled this club talk was action on the club's parking on the footpath. Bombay Gym members were stopped from parking their cars on the footpath outside the club. "We are clearing out footpaths because they are for pedestrians. It is also dangerous to drive on them," he said.

Read Story: BMC puts breaks on Bombay Gymkhana parking

All for the city?
Mehta claimed this policy is going to extend to the city. "We are clearing structures and parking lots on footpaths. There have been permissions given earlier for milk booths and telephone stalls on footpaths, but now these too will not be renewed. To this, somebody will say that Mehta stopped parking because he did not get a free car! We are also clearing subways of stalls once their leases are over, because subways too are for pedestrians. Now, is this because I did not get free clothes from the subway shops?"

Mehta claimed that one can't stop people from talking. When told that he needed to accede to the fact that there is a widespread belief that babus are holding Bombay Gym to ransom, Mehta shot back, "What constitutes ‘widespread' in a democracy? Take a poll and see the sentiment. So many people are hugely supportive of our actions, especially of clearing footpaths. I have received so many emails for that."

Trust deficit
‘Kuch toh log kehenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna', was the tenor of the BMC chief, who said that senior journalists must ask for proof, when they are told of such accusations, and signed off, "my hands are clean, my conscience is clean and I do not see why I should be compelled to answer people."

With Mehta saying that journalists must ask for ‘proof' when listening and reporting on member buzz - like bureaucrats or babus taking ‘revenge' on the club - and an irate club member saying that the media must jump on these babus, the trust deficit seems deep and unlikely to be filled anytime soon.