Mumbai: Barely a day after supporting a proposal to hike the entry fee at Byculla zoo 20-fold, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done a volte-face, with city party chief Ashish Shelar opposing the move to increase the fee.

In a letter to civic chief Ajoy Mehta, the BJP leader has said that the fee hike would be an injustice to Mumbaikars in the absence of new amenities at Byculla zoo, also known as Rani Baug. “While the Rani Baug is in pathetic state, the animals are also vanishing from the zoo. The zoo beautification is delayed, as it has not yet been developed along new concepts. In this backdrop, citizens should not be disheartened by increasing the entry fee,” said Mr Shelar. He also took to Twitter asking whether the maintenance cost of penguins in the zoo would be paid from Mumbaikars’ pockets.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed a hike in entry charges taking into consideration the backdrop of arrival of seven Humboldt penguins at the zoo. As per the new proposal, a single person will be charged Rs 100 (from the earlier Rs 5) but a family of four also will be charged Rs 100.

Incidentally, the BJP members had supported the move to increase the zoo fee in the civic markets and gardens committee on Monday.

Objecting to Mr Shelar’s stand, Shiv Sena’s Sanvee Tandel, chairperson of markets and gardens committee, said, “The BJP members kept mum while passing the proposal to increase the zoo fee and now they are opposing it. It shows their double standards.”