Nirupam: Uddhav-Raj Alliance Won’t Impact Mumbai Politics

“The BEST Employees’ Cooperative Credit Society Ltd elections have shown that even if the Thackeray brothers, who have abandoned Balasaheb’s ideas for power, come together, it will not make much difference in the elections,” said Mr. Nirupam.

The claims that the Thackeray brothers coming together will change Mumbai’s politics have been disproved by the BEST credit society results. Mumbai is a city that accommodates everyone. The BEST elections have a message that if anyone tries to make a linguistic dispute in this city, they will be clearly rejected, he added.

A joint panel of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena faced a wash-out in the election earlier this week. The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) is the transport and electricity supply wing of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Mr. Nirupam alleged that Thackeray brothers created a Marathi vs Hindi debate for Marathi votes. But they could not win even a single of the 21 seats in the BEST credit society elections, he said. “Mumbai is an inclusive city and anyone who tries to create a linguistic divide here will be decisively rejected, as the BEST election has shown. The MLAs and MPs of Sena (UBT) were elected on Muslim votes. That is why Marathi voters have distanced themselves from them,” he added.

Further claiming that the alliance of the Thackeray cousins will make no difference to Mumbai’s politics, the Shiv Sena leader said, “The only brand in Mumbai is the Hinduhriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray. After Balasaheb, the main leader of Shiv Sena is Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who has won a place in the hearts of Marathi people. Eknath Shinde is the true heir of the thoughts of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray. They (Uddhav and Raj) had also claimed that the ‘Thackeray brand’ would guarantee their victory. But these claims fell flat, as they could not win even a single seat out of 21.”