Mumbai: After a crushing defeat in the recent Maharashtra Vidhan sabha elections, cracks are appearing in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance as Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday hinted that his party may contest the upcoming Mumbai local body polls independently.
“The Sena (UBT)’s hold in Mumbai is undisputed. It is necessary for Mumbai that Sena (UBT) wins in the city otherwise Mumbai would be separated from Maharashtra by the ruling alliance,” said Raut.
“If we had more seats to contest in Mumbai (during the assembly polls), we would have won them,” he added.
The Shiv Sena, before its split, had controlled the BMC, India’s richest municipal corporation, for 25 consecutive years from 1997 to 2022. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party contested the April-May Lok Sabha elections in alliance with Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP under the banner of the MVA and won three out of the six seats in Mumbai. However, it could not repeat its impressive performance in the Vidhan Sabha polls, as it won only 10 of the 24 it contested out of the total 36 seats in the city.
“Party workers demand that Shiv Sena (UBT) should contest the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections on its own. Uddhav Thackeray will take a decision after meeting the workers,” said Raut.
However, the Sena (UBT) leader clarified that the MVA still exists in the state. “Even before this, when we were in alliance with the BJP, we had contested elections separately. The MVA will continue in the Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nashik civic bodies,” he said.
Raut’s remark comes after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde confirmed that the ruling Mahayuti alliance, consisting of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, would contest the BMC elections as a united front.
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, however, said it appeared that Raut’s statements stemmed from ‘frustration.’ “They are an independent party and if the Sena wishes to go independent, it’s their choice. We are willing to contest in an alliance, but since Raut has presented Sena (UBT)’s stance of going solo, we must seek clarity,” he said.
The BMC elections are expected to be held very soon as the term of the previously elected representatives in the BMC ended in March 2022. Since then, the BMC has been operating without elected representatives for nearly three years, including the COVID-19 period.
