Naynaben Pedhadiya, mayor of Rajkot city in Gujarat has sparked a controversy after photos of her journey to Prayagraj to attend the Maha Kumbh in her official vehicle went viral.
The chairman of the standing committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Rajkot Municipal Corporation, however, defended her, saying she had taken necessary permissions for using the vehicle.
Pedhadiya visited the Maha Kumbh last week with her husband and a few BJP leaders and corporators.
Photos and videos purportedly showing the mayor's official vehicle being used to hang out wet clothes after a holy dip at Prayagraj were widely shared on social media.
The opposition Congress targeted the ruling party over the issue.
Pedhadiya claimed on Tuesday that she used the vehicle for the 'holy purpose of pilgrimage', and not for fun. She had obtained due permissions, and will pay for the vehicle use at a rate of Rs 12 per kilometre though the prescribed rate is Rs 2 per kilometre, she added.
But the opposition party took potshots at her.
"The mayor went on a pilgrimage to wash her sins using public money. May the Lord accept her prayers so that incidents like TRP Game Zone fire (in which 27 persons died) does not happen ever again in the city, and may her sins incurred due to this get washed off," Congress leader Vashram Sagathiya said in a video message.
"A pilgrimage on public money does not succeed. The manner in which the government vehicle was used to dry wet clothes is reprehensible, it is not appropriate," he further said.
It was not right for her to take others along while travelling in her official vehicle, he said.
"We demand that the old resolution of the RMC, which has made her trip possible at such a ridiculously low rate, be immediately revoked," he added.
Chairman of the RMC Standing Committee, Jaimin Thakar, said Pedhadiya did not violate any rule. But hanging clothes on the vehicle to dry was not right, he conceded.
"Mayor, or any other official of the RMC, is entitled to use the official vehicle for a trip outside Gujarat, provided they have sought a written permission from the municipal commissioner," Thakar said.
The mayor will be charged at a rate of Rs 2 per kilometre as per a resolution passed a decade ago, he said.
The RMC will soon revoke the resolution and pass a fresh one prescribing the prevailing market rate which will be revised every three years, he added.
"We have no right to use official vehicles at a token rate," said Thakar.
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