Another jolt to Uddhav Thackeray as Eknath Shinde gets ready with a list of 400 former corporators, MPs likely to join his fold

This may be another big jolt to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and will create a challenge for the party to prevail in the upcoming civic body election likely to be held in three to four months, post monsoon.

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The terms of most of these corporations got over in March and elections were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and later due to Uddhav Thackeray’s surgery and his delayed recovery.

Meanwhile, apart from Shinde’s son Srikant, who is an MP from Kalyan, several Lok Sabha MPs are also set to join Shinde. Even Washim MP Bhavna Gawli, who is facing trouble from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has reportedly told Uddhav that they must go with the BJP. Sources said that Shinde’s group is trying to get with it a key MP from Mumbai metropolitan region who was attending a wedding function on Thursday while the party was in crisis. The MP, who was at the marriage of Speaker O M Birla’s staffer’s child, said he would comment later.

A key BJP leader from Maharashtra said, “We have information that 14 to 15 MPs are going to join Shinde’s group. Most of them have been elected due to PM Narendra Modi’s charisma and fear that they will not get elected next time. Hence they will come with Shinde group.’’

The corporators will join at a later stage.

In Mumbai, the BJP had made all plans to fight elections alone and was already shortlisting persons from Sena. “Now we will have a wider choice.’’

Apart from senior leaders, the job of keeping the flock together in Mumbai has been entrusted to former mayor Kishori Pednekar and former leader of the house Vishakha Raut.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) house has been dissolved as the term was completed. Shinde hails from Thane city and was a leader of the house in Thane. Naresh Mhaske, who was the mayor of Thane till the house was dissolved, said, “Most of the corporators in Thane are with Shinde ‘saheb’. We are now in Thane city and will go with him. We don’t want to stay with Uddhav Thackeray. Most of the corporators of Ulhasnagar, Kalyan Dombivali, Bhiwandi Nizampur, Navi Mumbai, Vasai Virar, Panvel and other civic bodies in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nashik are with Shinde ‘saheb’. The public representatives of Palghar, Dahanu, Talasari and Thane areas are with Shinde saheb. It is a matter of few days.’’

Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande refused to comment on the situation and Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut did not take calls.

Also, one of the MLAs who joined the Eknath Shinde faction is MLA Yamini Yashwant Jadhav. Her husband and standing committee chairperson of the dissolved BMC body Yashwant Jadhav has also gone to the Shinde camp. They are facing an inquiry from ED.