Mumbai: For over two decades, a detail inside the BMC headquarters remained unchanged: the saffron cloth draped on the mayor’s and standing committee chairman’s tables, echoing the Shiv Sena‘s flag colour. With the undivided Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena ruling the civic body for nearly 25 years, the symbolism did not need revisiting.That may change soon. With the BJP emerging as the single-largest party in the newly elected corporation and expected to claim the mayor’s post, the visual identity of some aspects of these key offices itself could undergo a subtle makeover. The BJP’s flag features both saffron and green.Meanwhile, work has already begun across the corporation hall, standing committee hall and other statutory committee rooms. After nearly three-and-a-half years of limited use, the focus is on practical fixes: termite treatment, deep cleaning, upgrading upholstery, and replacing worn-out chairs where required.When TOI visited the standing committee hall on Monday, works were underway to change the cushioning of all the chairs the new corporators will sit on, with a tailor along with his sewing machine seated right inside the hallway and stitching the cushion fabric together. A BMC official said, “We have also changed the air-conditioning of the hall, after almost a decade.” Officials said the aim is to ensure the corporation hall and committee halls are fully functional before the new body settles in. Testing of sound systems too is in full swing at these halls.Political realignments will also reflect in the allocation of party offices within the BMC building. In a significant shift, the BJP, as the party with the highest number of corporators, will take over the Shiv Sena’s party office, the largest among all civic party spaces so far. The Sena office has historically been a nerve centre of power within the BMC. Meanwhile, with 8 corporators, AIMIM will for the first time be allotted a party office inside the BMC headquarters, marking its formal entry into the civic power structure. Currently, all party offices were being used as election work stations with coordination teams sitting in these over the past few months.
