Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray have been seen sharing the dais on a number of occasions recently, hinting at their political proximity. However, the local party leaders have said that Shiv Sena and BJP have started preparations to go solo in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls scheduled for February 2017. Political observers even said that Shiv Sena has carved out a unique position in which it conveniently works as an opposition party as well as a ruling party.
The CM was invited for dinner at Matoshree on July 18. Later, both leaders met again on August 9 and decided to meet often to resolve issues. Both the party chiefs were seen together at the naming ceremony of Vaitarna dam on Thursday and on Friday, they unveiled the state housing policy together.
Terming the meetings “obvious”, Shiv Sena spokesperson Arvind Bhosale said his party would do every work (required) for the betterment of the people and refused to read between the lines about the frequent meetings of both the leaders. “We work for Mumbaikars and Uddhavji would support every cause that will benefit the citizens,” Mr Sawant said. When asked about forging an alliance for the BMC polls, Mr Sawant said only Uddhav Thackeray would take the decision. “It is too early to speak on the issue. But Uddhavji will clarify,” he said. The sources in the Sena clearly said that the party has already started preparing to go solo and Mr Thackeray had also warned that he would not compromise on “unreasonable” demand of seats from the BJP.
Currently, BJP has 31 corporators in the BMC and Shiv Sena 75. With its success in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in 2014, BJP workers have been demanding to go solo in the civic body elections so that the party’s strength increases.
“We are strengthening the organisation and gearing up activists at the booth level. It is too early to speak on alliance. But we are preparing for all the 227 seats because anything can happen last minute,” Mumbai BJP secretary, advocate Vivekanand Gupta said.
Senior journalist Prakash Akolkar said that Shiv Sena has planned a strategy in which the party plays the role of opposition as well as ruling. “Uddhav Thackeray inviting the CM to Matoshree or sharing a stage with him could be all part of the strategy. The recent example of the Assembly polls has shown that Sena and BJP have gained more seats by going alone. So, even if Uddhav and Fadnavis are frequently meeting, both parties are likely to go solo in the BMC polls,” he said.
