KALYAN: The UBT Sena’s Kalyan district chief Sharad Patil Wednesday accused MNS of betrayal after it extended its support to Shiv Sena in KDMC.Sena MP from Kalyan Shrikant Shinde said MNS had extended support in the interest of the city’s development. Asked if Shiv Sena would form the local govt without the support of BJP which had won 50 seats, he said that Sena and BJP had contested the civic polls together as Mahayuti and that the mayor would be from Mahayuti. A final decision on the mayoral post would be taken by deputy CM Eknath Shinde and BJP state president Ravindra Chavan, he added. BJP state president Ravindra Chavan said the mayor in Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar and Thane will be from the Mahayuti. He said a final decision will be taken after CM Devendra Fadnavis returns from Davos.
All 53 Sena corporators in KDMC visited the Konkan divisional commissioner’s office on Wednesday to complete the process of group registration. At the same venue, the five MNS corporators formed a separate group. While this process was on, MNS’ Raju Patil held a meeting with Shrikant Shinde, after which MNS officially declared its support to Sena.Explaining MNS’s stand, Raju Patil said the BJP had 50 seats and the Shinde-led Sena had 53, and for days, KDMC had witnessed political manoeuvring, including number games and alleged poaching. He said similar confusion could arise during formation of civic committees. “To ensure stability and to facilitate development work, we have decided to extend support,” Patil said. UBT Sena’s Sharad Patil told TOI his party and MNS had contested the elections together and voters had voted against Shinde Sena and BJP. “We sacrificed several of our Shiv Sainiks by denying them tickets to accommodate MNS candidates. By supporting Shinde Sena now, MNS has betrayed not only our party but also the voters who supported them,” he alleged.He said that of the 11 UBT Sena corporators elected, four were not reachable. According to his information, he said, two of them were in touch with the MNS and two with the Shinde-led Sena. He said the party would initiate disqualification proceedings against them.Political observers said Wednesday’s developments have raised questions over whether Sena is trying to gain a majority in the KDMC House independently or is seeking to strengthen its bargaining power within Mahayuti, especially after BJP’s demand that it should get the mayor’s post for a two-and-a-half-year term.Analysts also said that with Kalyan LS seat being with Shrikant Shinde and BJP demonstrating growing strength in the region-evident from its win in the council president’s election in Ambernath and emergence as the single largest party in Ulhasnagar-the Sena leadership may be working to consolidate its position in the various contests over the mayor’s posts and other important posts in civic bodies.
