Thackeray Cousins Unite For Civic Polls, Sideline Congress
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday announced that his party will contest the upcoming Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) elections in alliance with the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday announced that his party will contest the upcoming Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) elections in alliance with the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). He raised the slogan “75 seats paar” (crossing 75 seats) as a target out of the total 131 seats in the civic body and also said that any other party that wants to align with his party will also have to join hands with Raj Thackeray. The announcement comes on a day NCP, a constituent of Mahayuti, announced it will contest the Thane election alone and accused the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena of corruption in the TMC.
Mr. Raut’s remark came a day after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his family participated in the ‘Deepotsav’, which is an annual event organised by his cousin Raj Thackeray, at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai. Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the event, marking a significant step in their reconciliation.
Speaking with the reporters, Mr. Raut said that the former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the MNS chief have come together and their alliance has been sealed. “Now, for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections and other local body elections, any party that wants to align with us, will have to join both cousins,” he said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader’s announcement of alliance with the MNS in the TMC election also assumes a political significance amid murmurs of differences emerging within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over the possible inclusion of the MNS, as Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal on Thursday had made it clear that there is no discussion over the MNS’s inclusion in the MVA.
Mr. Raut sarcastically said that the Congress is a big party, which dates back to the freedom movement period and is still functioning in the same old manner. He also pointed out that the INDIA bloc was formed for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was formed for the 2024 Assembly elections. “No opposition alliance has been discussed for the upcoming local body elections. However, Shiv Sena (Uddhav) and MNS are together on issues like saving cities such as Mumbai and Pune and preserving the Marathi language,” he added.
The BJP has set a target of winning 70 plus seats in the TMC elections alone. Responding to this, Raut declared that Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS will contest the TMC polls together and win 75 seats as both Thackerays are stronger than anyone.
Ridiculing Mr. Raut, Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena said that the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader could not get a corporator elected from Bhandup village, where he resides.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Thane unit has announced it will contest the
Thane election independently.
Local NCP leader and former corporator NCP Najeeb Mulla said, “We do not want to carry the burden of corruption and scams over the last 20 years. There has been no action on the irregularities we raised, be it on stalled projects like theme parks or others.”
Mr. Mulla also said that the scope for NCP aspirants under any alliance arrangement. “We have already communicated our decision to Ajit Pawar. We are confident of winning enough seats to influence the mayoral selection,” he said.