Congress wants to destabilise government: Gadkari warns Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should come together and work for the people of Maharashtra after the Maharashtra civic polls.

"The numbers we have now show that the BJP and the Shiv Sena have been given a clear mandate by the people and if both the parties consider the number of seats they have acquired, it would be good if both parties work together. Both Chief Minister Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackrey must consider this," Gadkari said.

Gadkari's comment came as the BJP registered an emphatic win in the Maharashtra civic polls

The BJP won 82 of the council's 227 seats, while the Shiv Sena at 84 is marginally ahead. None of the parties could get near the majority mark of 114.

When asked about the reports stating that the some of the Congress leaders have expressed their desire to back the Shiv Sena, Gadkari said, "the Congress wants to destablise the government and that is why they want to support Shiv Sena. Their policy is not oriented towards betterment of Mumbai and its people. BJP and Shiv Sena must remain alert."

The BJP has emerged victorious at all the other eight municipal corporations barring Mumbai and Thane Municipal Corporations that went to polls this week.

BJP also emerged as a clear choice in nine out of the 25 Zilla Parishads.

The Congress was at the third position winning 31 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) nine seats, AIMIM three seats and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) seven seats.