Religious leaders from the Jain community on Saturday announced that the formation of a new political party, named the Shanti Doot Jankalyan Party, with a pigeon as its symbol, to contest the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, reported Hindustan Times.

The leaders announced that the party would contest the polls, expected to be held by the end of this year, with the agenda of protecting kabootarkhanas, or pigeon feeding spots, according to Mid-Day.

The announcement was made during a prayer meeting for the pigeons that they claimed had died since July, when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation began shutting down designated spots to feed the birds in Mumbai.

An order in this regard was issued by the Maharashtra government to the civic body on July 3.

On July 30, the Bombay High Court, acting on petitions by animal welfare activists, had said that feeding pigeons at kabootarkhanas was becoming a public health hazard affecting children and the elderly.

A bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Arif Doctor had allowed the municipal corporation to file cases under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to public nuisance, negligent acts likely to spread infectious diseases and malignant acts likely to spread life-threatening diseases.

The High Court order had triggered protests in the city.

On August 6, hundreds of persons clashed with the police at the Dadar kabootarkhana, tearing down tarpaulin sheets that the authorities had put up to prevent the feeding of pigeons.

Two days earlier, more than 1,000 members of the Jain community had gathered to protest after the Dadar feeding spot was closed, marking the end of a long-standing tradition.

The meeting on Saturday was also attended by Hindu leaders, Hare Krishna monks and Buddhists, according to Hindustan Times.

When asked about the proposed new party, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he was not aware of the development, reported the newspaper.

Between July 13 and August 3, Mumbai’s civic body fined 142 persons for illegally feeding pigeons. The municipal corporation collected Rs 68,700 in penalties from those fined.

The highest number of fines – 61, or nearly 43% of the total – were issued at the Dadar kabootarkhana.

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