The 29 newly elected corporators of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) were on Wednesday allowed to check out of a luxury hotel in Mumbai after a gazette notification made defection difficult.
The notification formally recognised the election of the 29 corporators and their status as a protected group under the anti-defection law.
“With the gazette notification issued, the corporators are now formally recognised as elected on the Shiv Sena symbol. The 29 corporators have been recognised as a group. At least one-third of this group would have to defect together to evade disqualification under the anti-defection law,” a Shiv Sena leader said.
The corporators of the BMC, who had been cloistered in the hotel since January 17 amid fears of poaching by rival parties, were freed on a day the Shinde faction of the Sena got a boost in the neighbouring Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation.
Five newly elected corporators of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) snapped ties with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and extended support to Shinde’s Sena in the civic body adjoining Mumbai. The MNS backing is expected to strengthen the Shinde-led Sena’s position vis-à-vis ally BJP and bolster its claim to the mayor’s post.
In the Kalyan-Dombivali civic body, the BJP and the Shinde Sena had contested the polls in an alliance, winning 50 and 53 seats, respectively, in the 123-member House. While their combined strength comfortably crosses the majority mark of 62, the Shinde Sena has further consolidated its position by securing the support of the five MNS corporators, leaving it just four short of a majority on its own.
“The Shiv Sena has brought its 53 corporators here. The MNS has also brought its corporators and extended support to the Mahayuti. We will form the government with the BJP, Shiv Sena, the MNS and some other parties,” Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MP Shrikant Shinde told reporters.
Asked which party — the BJP or the Shinde Sena — would get the mayor’s post in the BMC, Shrikant said: “In the BMC too, the Mahayuti will form the government and get the mayor’s post.”
Amid the tussle over the BMC mayor’s post, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde was in Delhi on Tuesday to hold discussions with the BJP’s central leadership. While both sides remained tight-lipped about the talks, sources said no consensus was reached and a final decision would be taken only after Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis returns from Davos next week.
The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the BMC with 89 seats, while the Shinde Sena has won 29 of the 227 seats. Despite being the junior partner, the
Shinde Sena is learnt to be pressing hard for the mayor’s post in the country’s richest civic body, urging the BJP to show magnanimity within the alliance.
Sena insiders said the developments in neighbouring Kalyan-Dombivali could be used to exert pressure on the BJP. “In Kalyan-Dombivali, the Sena can even form the civic board without the BJP. Along with the MNS, many corporators from other parties are also ready to extend support,” a Sena leader said, adding that the BJP should at least agree to a rotational arrangement for the BMC mayor’s post.