Mumbai:
In a defiant move similar to her predecessor, newly-elected Mumbai Mayor Snehal Ambekar has refused to remove the red beacon light on her official car.
Ms Ambekar, 42, the first time Shiv Sena corporator, courted controversy on Wednesday by stating that a Mayor is "equivalent to the Chief Minister" and thus, should be allowed to use a red beacon light on the official vehicle.
"If you ask my opinion, I think if the CM uses a red beacon, Mayor is of the same level and thus should be allowed to use a red beacon (fitted car). Whenever a VIP comes to the city, the Mayor goes to receive him as a representative of the people. The Mayor should therefore have a standard," she said.
Reacting to Ambekar's statement, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan remarked that everyone should follow rules.
"There is a Constitution...There are rules," he told a television news channel last evening.
According to a recent state government's list, a Mayor is not entitled to use a red beacon light on his/her official car.
Former Mayor Sunil Prabhu too had refused to follow the directives and had written to the Chief Minister saying that it was a "traditional right" of the Mayor to use a car with a red beacon light.
Ms Ambekar, a former LIC officer who had won the municipal elections from G-South (Parel) ward, was elected the city Mayor on Tuesday. She is the fourth woman corporator to occupy the post in the history of Brihnamumbai Municipal Corporation.