BMC polls: BJP, Shiv Sena share spoils in east Mumbai

While BJP, , in an unprecedented victory, swept all six seats in the Gujarati-dominated T ward (Mulund), the Sena pitched its flag on its Marathi stronghold in the Bhandup-Vikhroli belt.

It was a win-win situation for both the BJP and Sena in the Ghatkopar-Mulund belt on Thursday.

Shiv Sena supporters celebrate outside BMC vote counting centre at Ghatkopar in Mumbai on Thursday. (Arijit Sen/HT)

While BJP, , in an unprecedented victory, swept all six seats in the Gujarati-dominated T ward (Mulund), the Sena pitched its flag on its Marathi stronghold in the Bhandup-Vikhroli belt.

In Mulund, four of the six wards have been dominated by the BJP for 25 years, but now it has also won seats that were with the NCP and MNS until Thursday morning. However, the party could not claim seats in the Gujarati heartland – Ghatkopar-Vidyavihar, where it won a paltry three of the 11 electoral wards.

By noon, BJP workers had started celebrating on the roads and were distributing sweets in Mulund. BJP MP Kirit Somaiya’s son Neil, who won from ward 108 called it a “victory of transparency”. He said, “Everybody thought I am too young to win, but now I am going to be the bridge between the youth and the BMC.”

BJP MLA from Mulund, Sardar Tara Singh, called it a historic win. “Mulund (east) seats, that were with the NCP and MNS are now ours, so this is historic,” he said.

Ramesh Koregaonkar, who won from ward 114 in Bhandup, said, “I have worked for 15 years in this ward. I did not think MNS was my opponent at all. Mumbaiites want the Sena so that the Centre does not run the city.” Koregaonkar, who is also a member of the standing committee, will be serving his fourth term from the ward now.

In the Ghatkopar-Vidyavihar belt, the BJP and Sena won three seats each, MNS got two and NCP retained its two seats.

The richest candidate from Mumbai, Parag Shah from the BJP, won against Congress’ Pravin Chheda with 2,797 votes. A BJP supporter from Ghatkopar said, “Shah is a clean, transparent man, who is not interested in making money. He has a very good reputation in Ghatkopar.” Shah, a construction giant, has declared assets worth Rs690 crores.

BJP and Sena, however, suffered a huge setback in ward 131 of Ghatkopar. BJP’s city unit chief Bhalchandra Shirsat lost to NCP’s sitting corporator Rakhi Jadhav, a big setback for both the saffron parties in the ward.

Need recounting in Mulund

NCP and MNS workers came out in large numbers demanding a recounting in Mulund, after the one-sided victory for BJP. They also shouted slogans against the party. MNS’ sitting corporator Sujatha Pathak said that there were errors in the calculation. “Independents who have contested from the ward have got zero votes, which is impossible. How can that be if we take into account at least their own votes and that of their families?.”

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