Mumbai: In another setback for the Opposition in the BMC, AIMIM corporator Roshan Shaikh has been disqualified after her Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificate was declared invalid by the District Caste Certificate Verification Committee. This is the third time in two months that a corporator from the Opposition has lost membership.Last month, Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Deepak Sawant, who was elected from ward number 111 in the S-Ward in Bhandup, and AIMIM corporator Sameer Ramzan Patel, who was elected from ward number 137 in Govandi, were disqualified after the caste certificates they had submitted with their nomination papers for the civic elections were invalidated by the verification committee.With the disqualification of Patel and now Roshan Shaikh, a corporator from ward number 138 in M-East ward, AIMIM’s strength in the BMC may be reduced to six. “We have moved the Bombay high court and a hearing has been scheduled on July 27. But in the meanwhile, the BMC has disqualified her. Don’t know what was the hurry,” said Irfan Shaikh, Roshan’s husband.An AIMIM member said: “Appeals are pending in the small causes court, as well as the Bombay high court in both disqualification cases. We are hopeful that the court decisions will be in our favour and they will remain corporators. Right now, the party is not affected as our numbers are enough to have our representation in the standing committee. But if the courts decide against the two corporators, we may fall short in numbers and could face a problem in the ward committee.”A veteran corporator pointed out that if a corporator is disqualified, the candidate who secured the second highest number of votes may be declared elected by the court if the latter approaches it.
