Shiv Sena nominates MNS defector to BMC committee

Sources in the party reveal that Parmeshwar Kadam has been rewarded for joining the Sena.

The Shiv Sena seems to in a mood to reward those have been switching loyalties to their party.

Parmeshwar Kadam (HT File)

Recently, six Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporators had joined the Sena. One of the defectors, Parmeshwar Kadam, has been nominated to the standing committee in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday. Sources in the Sena said the party wanted to reward Kadam for switching over from the MNS.

Kadam was nominated along with another Sena corporator Milind Vaidya, following the resignation of two heavy weight corporators - Ashish Chemburkar and Ramesh Satamkar, from the same political party. Vaidya is considered to be an influential Sena leader, who was the mayor of Mumbai in 1996, and is presently the chairman of Dadar’s ward committee.

Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar made the announcement about the nominations in BMC’s general body meeting.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena’s Dilip Lande, who was former group leader of MNS in the civic body, will remain a member of the standing committee, at least until the anticipated committee reshuffle, scheduled to be by the end of the month. BMC’s parties can replace few of their standing committee representatives annually via a lottery system. Lande’s name had come up last week through the system, and his membership has increased the Sena’s strength in the 26-member committee to 11 members.

Sources in the Sena said that the former MNS corporators were promised key positions in the BMC before they switched their loyalties. Thus it is believed that Lande is likely to retain his membership in the standing committee.

However, Kadam has dismissed these reports. He said, “No such promises were made when we joined the Sena. However, the leader of the house, Yashwant Jadhav, asked me if I wanted a committee membership. But I thought that senior Shiv Sainiks would probably get hurt because of the decision, so I refused. But I was given the position anyway.”

It was anticipated that Vaidya will be given a position in the standing committee in 2017, considering his seniority in the party, yet he was side-lined with a promise of a post in the near future, sources said. Similarly, the party has promised Chemburkar a position in BMC, in return for his resignation from the standing committee to make way for Kadam’s appointment.