Local-level Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress leaders join Shinde’s Sena

Shiv Sena (UBT) faces defections as local leaders join Eknath Shinde's camp amid claims of MPs considering a switch, stirring political tensions in Maharashtra.

Mumbai: Even as the Shiv Sena (UBT) scrambles to stem speculation that some of its MPs are considering switching to the Eknath Shinde camp, the movement has already begun at the local body level.

Local-level Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress leaders join Shinde’s Sena

Leaders from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and even the Congress from districts such as Washim, Karanja, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Akola, and Bhiwandi joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which is part of the ruling Mahayuti government, on Friday. This included the Akola district chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Vijay Malokar, who ditched Uddhav Thackeray’s party after Shiv Sena MLA Bhavana Gawali convinced him to.

Other opposition leaders who joined the Shiv Sena included Dilip Bhojraj, state Congress secretary; Sachin Patil, Washim district general secretary of the Congress; Pramod Raut; Vijay Khaire; Bhau Thorat; Praful Gavai, and N Bhuvanchandran, the Kerala chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT). A week ago, a dozen former Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators from Ahilyanagar had also joined the Shinde Sena.

Shiv Sena ministers Uday Samant and Sanjay Rathod said on Friday that many MPs and MLAs from the Uddhav Thackeray faction are in touch with deputy chief minister Shinde and will join his party soon. However, Shinde appeared to play the rumours down.

“When I was CM, everyone used to come to meet me. Even now, people come to me. I am in charge of the urban development department, housing department and the MSRDC (Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation). People come to me, but don’t take any political meaning out of this,” Shinde told reporters.

Shinde also reacted to the Congress’s claims earlier in the day that the Mahayuti alliance won the Maharashtra assembly elections because the voter lists had been tampered with. “They have not been able to digest their defeat. When the opposition wins, EVMs (electronic voter machines) are good. When they lose, they blame EVMs and, now, the voter list. The opposition got a 440-volt shock in the assembly polls. They must come out and face the next elections. We won because of our work. They are sensing defeat in Delhi and, hence, they have started a spate of allegations,” he said.