Uddhav Thackeray asks two Sena corporators to resign

Mumbai: In a major political development in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), ruling party Shiv Sena asked two senior Sena corporators - 

Mangesh Satamkar and Ashish Chemburkar - to resign from their posts as members of the civic standing committee on Thursday. 

Both were asked to resign from the committee by the party leadership on Thursday. The move is seen as a serious blow to the aspirations of these heavyweight corporators.

Both the corporators submitted their resignations to the municipal secretary. Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar later made the formal announcement of their resignation in the civic house. 

With the resignation of these corporators, two positions held by the Sena in the all-important standing committee have become vacant. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will announce the replacements soon, said party sources. 

Ashish Chemburkar

According to sources, the move to remove these corporators has been made to accommodate corporators from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), who recently switched their loyalties to Sena, in the standing committee. Six MNS corporators, led by party group leader Dilip Lande, formally joined the Sena at the civic body's general body meeting on Thursday.

 Asked about his resignation, Mr Chemburkar said: "I have resigned following the orders from the party leadership." Mr Satamkar remained unavailable for comment.

Mr Satamkar and Mr Chindarkar had retained their position in the civic standing committee following the lottery, which was held after the committee completed its one-year period. It meant they would have continued as standing committee members next year too.  

Sources in the Sena said the party leadership was unhappy with their performance. After the BMC elections held in February 2017, both were seen as strong contenders for the posts of mayor and standing committee chairman. However, rejecting their claims the party appointed Mr Mahadeshwar as a mayor and Ramesh Korgaonkar as a standing committee chairman. The post of party group leader too went to Yashwant Jadhav. Following this, Mr Satamkar and Mr Chemburkar had openly expressed their displeasure.

Mangesh Satamkar

Sena sources tried to downplay the developments. “The resignation of both these corporators is a routine procedure as committee members are changed annually. It is up to the party leadership whom to appoint on which committee,” a senior Sena leader said.