Former corporator hits RTI activist with sandal over women’s hostel tender
Former BJP corporator Rajashree Kale hit RTI activist Paresh Gurav with her sandal at PMC headquarters over argument on tender floated for women hostel
PUNE : Thursday saw high drama at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) headquarters when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) former corporator Rajashree Kale hit Right to Information (RTI) activist Paresh Gurav with her sandal amid a heated argument between the two after Gurav objected to a ₹2 crore tender floated by the civic body for completion of construction of the hostel for women belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (STs) at Baner.
The PMC is constructing the women’s hostel at Baner and nearly 70% of the work has been completed. The civic body floated the ₹2 crore tender for completion of the remaining work. However, Gurav, who used to work with some Congress leaders, objected to the tender and submitted a letter to PMC building department in that regard.
Kale has been following up for the women’s hostel over the past few months and visited the PMC headquarters Thursday evening for another follow-up. At that time, the officers informed her that Gurav had objected to the tender and submitted a letter for the same. Around the same time, Gurav visited the civic headquarters. What followed was a heated exchange between Kale and Gurav over the tender which spiralled out-of-control as Kale hit Gurav with her sandal. Some BJP leaders who were present at the headquarters intervened and managed to stop the fracas. Soon after, Gurav left the headquarters and has remained unavailable for comment ever since.
When contacted, Kale said, “I have been following up for this hostel since the beginning. Gurav used the wrong language with me and I got angry due to his language.”
