MUMBAI: A major political twist unfolded in the Ambarnath Nagar Parishad in Maharashtra, dealing a setback to the BJP despite its move to induct 12 expelled Congress corporators. The Shiv Sena, led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, joined hands with the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and an independent corporator to stake a claim to form the civic body government.
The BJP planned to keep the Shiv Sena out of power by aligning with the 12 Congress corporators expelled for anti-party activities, along with four NCP corporators and one independent. The local BJP leadership submitted a letter to the Thane district collector claiming majority support in the Ambarnath civic body.
However, the situation changed on Friday when the four NCP corporators and the independent corporator withdrew support from the BJP and extended backing to the Shiv Sena. With this shift, the Shiv Sena submitted a fresh letter of support from 32 corporators to the district collector, formally staking its claim to form the Nagar Parishad government. The Ambarnath Nagar Parishad elections produced a fractured verdict. Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party with 27 corporators, followed by the BJP with 14. The Congress won 12 seats, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP secured four.
In a twist of irony, the Shiv Sena lost the race for the municipal president’s post when its candidate Manisha Walekar was defeated by BJP nominee Tejashree Karanjule Patil, only for the BJP to discover that winning the chair did not translate into controlling the council, as it fell short of the numbers needed to run the civic body on its own. The collector will now decide the matter.
The contest became high-stakes as Ambarnath falls within the Kalyan-Dombivli Lok Sabha constituency represented by Dr Shrikant Shinde, son of Eknath Shinde. It is also politically important for Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan, whose Dombivli Assembly constituency lies adjacent to it. The developments are seen as a proxy tussle between the two leaders.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has moved to take legal action against the 12 corporators elected on its ticket who later joined the BJP without approval. After expelling them, the Congress sought legal opinion on their possible disqualification under anti-defection laws.