Mumbai: After seeing the defection of six of its seven corporators to the Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) could lose its lone MLA Sharad Sonavane to the Sena again, ahead of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls. There are speculations that Mr Sonavane is likely to join the Sena soon.
Mr Sonavane, who represents the Junnar constituency in Pune district, is the lone legislator of the Raj Thackeray-led party in the lower house. Sources said that he is not sure of getting elected again on the MNS ticket, especially after the Sena and BJP have forged an alliance for the polls.
The MNS legislator however rubbished such speculation saying that it was a rumour.
“I am still in the MNS. Though I am basically a Shiv Sainik, I cannot betray Raj Thackeray. There are rumours about me joining the Shiv Sena, only because a Sena functionary Amol Kolhe joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) recently. But I have not received any such proposal from the Sena. Even if I get one, I will take a call only after consulting with the party chief,” said Mr Sonavane.
MNS general secretary Sandip Deshpande, too, denied the reports saying that Mr Sonavane was very much with the party. He added that a senior MNS leader had spoken to Mr Sonavane.
In October 2017, six of the seven MNS corporators in the BMC – Dilip Lande, Archana Bhalerao, Snehal More, Datta Narvankar, Parashuram Kadam and Ashwini Matekar – joined the Sena in the presence of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
The move helped the Sena bolster its numbers to 90 in the civic body, eight more than the BJP. It helped the party consolidate its position in the civic body. It must be noted that Mr Sonavane, too, is a former Shiv Sainik.
