02 March,2017 03:21 PM IST | | Laxman Singh
Shivaji Park's ex-corporator shuts down Mumbai's first ever selfie point days after his wife loses in BMC election from there
The selfie point at Shivaji Park was the first of its kind in the city. Pic/Suersh Karkera
Was it a selfish decision to shut down the city's first ever selfie point? Days after locals failed to vote his wife and party to power in Shivaji Park, erstwhile corporator Sandeep Deshpande (MNS) announced that he was shutting down the selfie point.
First of its kind
Deshpande had created the first-of-its-kind photo spot in June 2015 by painting and carving dead trees in the area. Inaugurated by MNS chief Raj Thackeray, the selfie point had an umbrella and butterfly theme and proved a huge hit among citizens, particularly the youth, as close to 500 people visited the spot daily. After that, several other corporators followed the trend and created similar photo points in their respective areas.
The party would change the theme of the selfie point every three months, spending about Rs 2 lakh on its maintenance. This was covered by CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds, but MNS leaders claim the funds have dried up, prompting him to close it.
Selfie-serving move?
"It is very painful to close down Selfie Point," tweeted Deshpande yesterday.
However, sources said Deshpande may have decided to shut down the attraction because he was upset about the result of the BMC elections.
While Deshpande was the former corporator from Shivaji Park, he could not contest this year as the area had been reserved for women candidates after the delimitation of wards. His wife Swapna entered the fray instead, but she lost to Vishakha Raut, former mayor and Sena candidate. While Raut won 10,660 votes, his wife got merely 8,287 votes.
But the bigger injury lay in the fact that even the BJP candidate had scored more votes (8,297) than his wife, even though Shivaji Park is a Marathi vote bank.
Responding to this, a senior BJP leader said, "MNS has lost its ground since they do not have anything concrete to offer to citizens. This is why even the Marathi manoos chose to not to vote for them. Everyone likes BJP's transparency and development agenda, and this was proved by the results."
