BJP’s 15 BMC corporators in touch with us, says Shiv Sena leader

Ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls in February 2022, senior Shiv Sena corporator and civic standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav said upto 15 sitting BJP corporators are in touch with them as they are unhappy with the party leadership and the Sena will take a final call on inducting them into the party fold in December.

Ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls in February 2022, senior Shiv Sena corporator and civic standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav said upto 15 sitting BJP corporators are in touch with them as they are unhappy with the party leadership and the Sena will take a final call on inducting them into the party fold in December. The BJP responded saying none of their corporators would be joining the Sena.

The BJP responded saying none of their corporators would be joining the Sena. (Hindustan Times)

Jadhav said, “Some corporators of the BJP in the BMC are fed up with their leadership. Their suggestions or views are not given any value by the leadership. A bunch of these corporators want to join the Sena. We are thinking about the same and will take a decision by December.”

The 2017 civic elections saw a close contest between Sena and BJP with the former managing to retain power, even though it failed to win a simple majority in the house of 227. The Sena won 84 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came a close second with 82 seats. The two parties were running the state together because of which the BJP did not make an attempt to wrest power. In 2018, 7 MNS corporators joined the Sena increasing its tally. Currently, the Sena has 97 corporators, including independents and nominated corporators. The BJP has 83 seats, Congress 29, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 8, Samajwadi Party (SP) six, AIMIM two and MNS has one seat.

The two former allies have now locked horns again to win power in the Mumbai civic body in the civic polls scheduled to be held in February next year. A bitter tussle is on between the two parties ahead of the elections. Jadhav’s remarks made on Monday are coming out of the same tussle.

Prabhakar Shinde, BJP corporator and BJP’s Group leader in BMC, said, “The Sena should stop dreaming as they will not be successful in getting our corporators. Not even one BJP corporator will leave the party.”

In a statement, BJP’s corporator Bhalchandra Shirsat, who is also the spokesperson, said, “We gave confidence that not a single BJP corporator will even look at the Shiv Sena which has left Hindutva.”