Mumbai: Unfazed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) breaching its citadel of Mumbai by winning 82 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, the Shiv Sena on Friday asserted that the civic body’s mayor will be from their party and accused its estranged ally of using deceitful means to destabilise them.
Indicating its unwillingness towards a post-poll alliance with BJP in the country’s richest civic body, the Sena said its fight with the saffron party will continue and it will keep walking on the difficult path, whatever be the consequences.
The BJP on Thursday scored a resounding victory in the Maharashtra civil polls emerging as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations while finishing a close second to bellicose ally Shiv Sena, which won 84 seats, in the latter’s Mumbai bastion.
A day after the verdict, the Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ claimed that BJP used the entire state machinery and all its might of Central leadership to secure unprecedented results in the BMC and other local body polls.
“The Sena has been ruling the BMC from the last 25 years. They (the BJP) used deceitful means to destabilise our rule. This has never happened before when the Congress ruled the state,” it charged.
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“The BJP used all that it had for the BMC polls. But, despite the BJP getting 82 seats, the Mayor will be from Shiv Sena only,” the Sena proclaimed.
In the counting of votes held yesterday for the BMC, the Shiv Sena got 84 seats, BJP secured 82 seats, Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP and Raj Thackeray’s MNS got 9 and 7 seats, respectively.
The Sena today said it will walk on the path of fire and continue its fight without worrying about the outcome.
“It is always easier for the party in power to win local body polls. Power helped the Congress and is now helping the BJP. We have decided to walk on the path of fire. We will not worry about the consequences,” it said.
“Our fight (with the BJP) will continue. The war that had started was not only for power but for dharma, ideals and the integrity of Maharashtra,” the Sena said.
The elections to the cash-rich BMC and nine other civic bodies in the state, which had virtually turned into a battle of prestige for chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, heading the state’s first BJP-led government, and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, were held on 21 February. The counting of votes for the “mini Assembly election” was held yesterday.
