Shiv Sena UBT exodus continues, BJP gains two more corporators

In the 2017 BMC elections, the undivided Shiv Sena had won a majority of 84 seats, with the BJP close behind at 82. At present, according to Shelar, 50 of the original Shiv Sena corporators stand with the BJP, making it the ‘number one party’ and ‘pushing the UBT faction into complete disarray’.

Mumbai: The mass exodus of Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators continued on Sunday as Ishwar Tayade and Akanksha Shetye, along with more than 100 of their supporters and office bearers, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). So far, over 50 Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, who were corporators from 2017-2022 have migrated to the BJP, a party that is vying for control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the upcoming elections.

“This is just the first act of the larger political shift—the second, third, and final act will soon follow,” Shelar said (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar said that Tayade and Shetye were attracted to the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and wanted to align themselves with the ideology and principles of the BJP. “This is just the first act of the larger political shift—the second, third, and final act will soon follow,” Shelar said, calling the move ‘ a rejection of the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s leadership’.

Shelar said, “The state of Shiv Sena (UBT) is dangerous and dilapidated,” adding that the party’s crisis was fuelled by their opposition to ‘Mumbai, Mumbaikars, Hindutva, and Hindu festivals’. He claimed that the exodus of party corporators further pointed to the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s ‘dilapidated condition’.

In the 2017 BMC elections, the undivided Shiv Sena had won a majority of 84 seats, with the BJP close behind at 82. At present, according to Shelar, 50 of the original Shiv Sena corporators stand with the BJP, making it the ‘number one party’ and ‘pushing the UBT faction into complete disarray’.

Tayade and Shetye’s move to the BJP comes four days after Ajit Bhandari and Vijayendra Shinde, also former corporators of the Shiv Sena (UBT), joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.