BJP likely to invoke Shivaji Maharaj for poll campaign

Mumbai: With the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance broken, both parties are expected to wage a no-holds-barred battle against each other in their bid to rule the richest municipal corporation in the country — the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. What’s more, as in the state Assembly polls, in the civic polls too, BJP is likely to invoke the legendary Maratha warrior-king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, to take on the might of the Sena in the civic body.

The state assembly polls were a glaring example of how BJP hijacked the Chhatrapati from Sena and successfully used him in its campaign. The party’s slogan, “Shivchhatrapati ka ashirwad, chalo chale Modi ke saath” (With the blessings of Chhatrapati Shivaji, let us go along with Modi), became a hit during the polls.

With the BJP-led Maharashtra government having recently started work on the grand memorial of the Maratha king, the BJP feels this too will help it woo Marathi voters in the city. Just last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the memorial in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast. The main feature of the memorial, slated to cost Rs 3,600 crore, will be a 192-metre-tall statue of the iconic Maratha king.

So much so, a former senior BJP corporator, seeking to contest municipal elections again, has prepared his campaign harping on the state government’s efforts to launch the memorial. “The memorial plans were kept pending during the Congress-NCP government. It was the BJP government that expedited the project of building a grand memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. So why not take credit of it?” he asked.  We are planning to start a media campaign to inform people about our efforts to pursue the project of a memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji, he added.