Mumbai: With six Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporators defecting to the Shiv Sena, the latter’s strength is all set to increase in all civic committees. Earlier, with the Sena and BJP having the same number of members in all civic committees, the Sena used to find it difficult to approve proposals. Now however, the Sena can breathe easy with its increased strength. So much so, that the six former MNS corporators are likely to be rewarded with plum posts in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The decision to defect to Sena was recently validated by the Konkan divisional officer.
A senior Sena corporator in the BMC said, “With the entry of these six corporators, our party has become strong in the BMC. So, there is nothing wrong if they demand their pound of flesh. However, the final decision lies with the party leadership.”
Sources said that these corporators are either likely to become members of important committees i.e. standing and improvements committees, or will be made chiefs of other special or ward committees. Some of them are also likely to contest assembly elections to be held late next year from their constituencies on a Sena ticket.
On October 12 last year, six MNS corporators — Dilip Lande, Archana Bhalerao, Snehal More, Datta Narvankar, Parashuram Kadam and Ashwini Matekar — quit their party and joined the Sena. They joined the Sena in the presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
