Raut Accuses Shinde Of Confining Corporators
“Eknath Shinde is Deputy Chief Minister, yet he fears his corporators might be poached. What a huge farce!” Raut said. “They have kept their corporators confined. They broke MLAs earlier; now they have to lock up corporators,” he said
Mumbai: As the mayoral race heats up in Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday added a twist to it alleging that rival Shiv Sena faction chief Eknath Shinde has jailed his newly elected Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) corporators inside the hotel as he fears poaching by ally BJP. The saffron party’s majority in the BMC is fickle and Shinde’s corporators do not want a BJP Mayor in Mumbai, he said.
“The corporators (from Shinde faction) who have been elected are originally Shiv Sainiks. A Shiv Sainik carries a different sentiment in his heart towards the Shiv Sena. We have understood that they do not want a BJP Mayor. No matter how much they are confined, there are still many means of communication, and messages keep coming through,” Raut said.
His remarks came after Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, has moved his 29 corporators to a luxury hotel in the city, apparently to foil any poaching attempt.
“Eknath Shinde is Deputy Chief Minister, yet he fears his corporators might be poached. What a huge farce!” Raut said. “They have kept their corporators confined. They broke MLAs earlier; now they have to lock up corporators,” he said, referring to the Shinde’s 2022 rebellion that toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Raut added that Shinde’s move to shift his corporators to a five-star hotel reflects the failure of law and order under the Devendra Fadnavis government. “No one would want Mumbai to go with the BJP, except for Eknath Shinde. If Eknath Shinde rebelled for ideology, then others also have the right to do so. Devendra Fadnavis should intervene immediately and free those 29 corporators from the hotel. They have the right to breathe freely in Mumbai,” he stated.
The Shiv Sena (Shinde) said its corporators have been put up at the hotel for a three-day workshop where Shinde will guide them on the functioning of the BMC.
Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Sheetal Mhatre said her party and the BJP contested polls as Mahayuti. She said 20 of the 29 corporators have won for the first time and need to know how the BMC functions. She also rejected the charge that the corporators were corralled into a hotel for better bargaining of posts in the BMC.
In the 227-member BMC House, the majority mark is 114 seats. The BJP has won 89 seats, while its ally, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, secured 29. The Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, while its ally MNS emerged victorious on six.
