'homecoming'(Eds: Clubbing the MNS series)Mumbai, Oct 13 (PTI) Delivering a body blow to its archrival, the Shiv Sena today inducted six out of the sevencorporators of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS in its fold, a dayafter the ruling BJP narrowed the gap to match the Sena'stally of 82.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray termed the development"gharwapsi" whereas the BJP called it "horse trading".
In a shrewd political move, the Uddhav Thackeray-ledparty has not only improved its tally in the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC) but has virtually uprooted theMaharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), floated by Uddhav's cousinRaj Thackeray in 2006, from the political landscape in Mumbai.
With today's development, Shiv Sena's strength in the227-member BMC has risen to 90, eight more than the BJP, asenior Sena leader said.
In the BMC polls held in February this year, the Sena hadwon 84 seats, and the BJP 82.
The Sena also enjoys the support of four independentcorporators, while the BJP has the support of twoindependents.
The MNS has now left with just a single corporator in theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The development comes a day after BJP nominee JagrutiPatil defeated Sena's Meenakshi Patil in a bypoll in suburbanBhandup. A victory here would have taken the BJP's tally to83, however, it remained 82 due to death of a BJP corporatorfrom western suburbs last month.
Sena and BJP, though allies in the Centre and Maharashtragovernments, do not have a formal tie-up in the BMC.
MNS corporators Dilip Lande, Archana Bhalerao, SnehalMore, Datta Narvankar, Parashuram Kadam and Ashwini Matekarjoined the Sena in presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
Addressing the media after inducting the corporators inthe party, Thackeray, in an apparent reference to the factthat the MNS was an offshoot of his party, said nobody shouldaccuse the Sena of "poaching" the corporators as this was"homecoming".
In a dig at the BJP, Thackeray said, "Poaching took placein Arunachal Pradesh and Goa. Today, it is only 'Ghar Wapsi'.
There is no ulterior motive behind inducting the MNScorporators and it was done only after they expressed theirdesire to join the Shiv Sena".
Attacking the BJP, he said, "They (BJP) must haverealised our strength now after seeing what can we do in oneday".
Dilip Lande, one of the six corporators, said the mainreason behind joining the Sena was "the BJP's plan to oust theMarathi mayor from his post".
"We joined the Sena for the welfare of the Marathipeople," he said.
Sena leader Anil Parab said he has written a letterto the Konkan division commissioner, informing him about theinduction of six MNS corporators in the party.
MNS spokesperson Avinash Abhyankar said if thesecorporators had defected to the Sena, then "appropriate actionwill be initiated against them".
Manoj Kotak, group leader of the BJP in the BMC,termed the induction of MNS corporators in the Shiv Sena as"betrayal of voters".
"This is not just horse-trading, but a betrayal ofpromise made to the Mumbaikars. We have demanded that Konkancommissioner, police commissioner and the Anti-CorruptionBureau investigate the matter and initiate action against thethe mastermind of this episode," he said.
Addressing reporters, Thackeray took a swipe at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, saying the 'Modi wave' has waned andthat the BJP now relies on "sympathy wave" to win elections.
He said the national party gets "stomach ache" if theSena becomes politically strong.
"The Modi wave has waned now. The BJP has to rely onsympathy wave to win polls and bypolls. If they (the BJP) getstomach ache with our increased strength, what kind of alliesare they?" Thackeray asked.
The defection has come as a big setback for MNS, whosepolitical fortunes are steadily on decline in Mumbai, its hometurf, as well in rest of Maharashtra.
MNS had 27 corporators after the 2012 BMC elections.
The number dwindled to 7 in the 2017 polls, and is now reducedto just one after today's dramatic development.
Similarly, the party's tally in the MaharashtraLegislative Assembly has come down from an impressive 13 afterthe 2009 polls to just one MLA after the 2014 elections.
The party's fortunes, which were on the upswing afterit came to power in the Nashik Municipal Corporation in 2012,declined in the next polls, with many of its corporators inthe north Maharashtra city quitting ahead of the polls.
Now, there are just five MNS corporators inNashik--three in Pune and one in Pimpri civic bodies, onceconsidered pockets of influence of the 11-year-old party.
MNS had projected itself as a better alternative toSena on the "sons-of-the-soil" issue.
Of late, Raj Thackeray tried to revive his party andhad taken out a morcha on the Western Railway headquarters atChurchgate earlier this week over the death of 23 people in astampede on the staircase of a foot overbridge (FOB) lastmonth. PTI APM MM VT VT ND KRK RSY NSKSRY.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.