Three months ago, Jain monk Muni Nileshchandra Vijay had threatened to "take up arms" over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) decision to shut down the iconic Kabootarkhana (pigeon shelter) in Dadar suburb, among other pigeon-feeding sites in Mumbai. The monk later clarified he meant it "in a peaceful way". Cut to October, the community has announced its own political party—the Shanti Doot Jankalyan Party—with a pigeon as its symbol, reported Hindustan Times and the Mumbai-based Mid-Day.
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The move comes ahead of the long-delayed BMC elections, hotting up Mumbai's political circles.
The BMC, India's richest civic body, hasn't held elections since 2017.
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