Nagpur civic staff boycott work over BJP leader-official spat

Nagpur civic staff boycotted all work except essential ones in protest against the city BJP chief allegedly threatening a senior town planning official over phone on Monday.

Nagpur civic staff boycotted all work except essential ones in protest against the city BJP chief allegedly threatening a senior town planning official over phone on Monday. A delegation of NMC workers and officers met civic chief Tukaram Mundhe claiming city BJP chief Pravin Datke used abusive language against assistant director (town planning) Pramod Gawande.

The delegation told Mundhe the incident had lowered the morale of the staff and, therefore, they were boycotting meetings of office-bearers as well as civic work apart from essential ones related to citizens' services. Meanwhile, Datke told reporters he had asked Gawande to address a civic issue raised by a local corporator.

"I requested Gawande to visit the ward but he kept on delaying it citing other engagements," Datke said, adding he had not used abusive language but only a common term of exasperation. "If I have hurt him, I apologise," Datke said.