Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has been receiving setbacks as its former corporators are leaving the party and joining hands with the ruling parties in Mumbai.
Mumbai: Ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has been receiving setbacks as its former corporators are leaving the party and joining hands with the ruling parties in Mumbai. Two ex-corporators Ishwar Tayade and Akshay Shetye joined the BJP on Sunday along with more than 100 party office bearers. Mumbai BJP claimed that 50 former corporators from the Shiv Sena (UBT) have already joined other parties.
In the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s direction to the state election commission (SEC) to conduct the polls of local bodies, including BMC, in the next four months, the ruling parties especially BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena have started inducting influential local leaders of the opposition parties. The BJP had recently inducted former Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sudhakar Badgujar into its fold despite opposition to Badgujar from the Nashik unit of the party.
Welcoming Tayade and Shetye into the party fold, Mumbai BJP Chief Ashish Shelar equated Shiv Sena UBT’s condition as “dangerous” and “dilapidated” as dilapidated buildings in Mumbai. “Driven by the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and with a desire to align themselves with the ideology and principles of the BJP, former Shiv Sena UBT corporators Ishwar Tayade and Akanksha Shetye, along with more than 100 of their supporters and office bearers, have joined the BJP. This clearly indicates their rejection of UBT’s leadership. This is just the first act of the larger political shift — the second and third, and the final act, will soon follow,” claimed Mr. Shelar, who is also a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government.
Slamming the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Mumbai BJP chief said, “Their opposition to Mumbai, Mumbaikars, Hindutva and Hindu festivals has pushed them into this crisis. Moreover, the exodus of their office bearers, MLAs and MPs reflects the party’s dilapidated condition.”
Mr. Shelar also pointed out that his party was just two seats behind the Shiv Sena (undivided) in the 2017 BMC election. “Today, with the addition of four ex-corporators, we have emerged as the number one party. Also, over 50 corporators from the original Shiv Sena have aligned with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, pushing the Sena (UBT) into complete disarray,” he said.
