Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Amid speculation over Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena's move to shift newly-elected members to a hotel after the Mahayuti combine managed a narrow majority in the Mumbai civic body polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has hinted at behind-the-scenes happenings.
He also claimed on Sunday that many corporators of Shiv Sena, who originally belonged to the Bal Thackeray-founded party before its division, and even Shinde, do not want a BJP mayor in Mumbai.
Raut said if the corporators are locked up in the hotel, there are different sources of communication to send and receive messages.
Shiv Sena shifted its 29 members to a hotel in Mumbai ostensibly for an orientation workshop to make them aware of the functioning of the country's richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
The move followed the declaration of the results of BMC polls, which showed that the seats won by Shiv Sena are crucial for the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 89 corporators, to draw up its strategy to get Mahayuti's mayor installed.
As the race for the Mumbai mayor is heating up, Uddhav Thackeray, whose party lost the BMC polls, caused a flutter on Saturday, saying the Shiv Sena (UBT) could have its mayor if "Dev" (God) was willing.
He also suggested that Shinde's party was scared of poaching attempts by its ally, the BJP.
Reacting to Thackeray's statement, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis jocularly asked whether by 'Deva' his former ally was referring to him or the "God above".
"I am also called 'Deva', hence I am asking," Fadnavis said, adding, "God above has decided that there will be a Mahayuti Mayor."
The BJP and Shiv Sena's narrow majority of 118 seats in the 227-member BMC has exposed the vulnerability of the combine to any potential sabotage.
In the opposition camp, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, while its ally MNS emerged victorious in six civic wards.
The Congress, which fought separately in alliance with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), bagged 24 seats, AIMIM 8, Ajit Pawar-led NCP 3, Samajwadi Party 2, and NCP (SP) one seat.
A hypothetical scenario of a united opposition puts its collective tally at 106, just eight seats short of the halfway mark in the BMC House, which possibly explains Shinde's move to guard the Sena flock.
When asked whether there will be 'ghar wapsi' (return) of corporators, Raut said, "Many new corporators are originally Shiv Sainiks (of undivided Shiv Sena). Our understanding is that everyone wants a BJP mayor not be elected. Even Shinde does not want a BJP mayor in Mumbai," Raut claimed.
He said discussions were held between Uddhav Thackeray and MNS president Raj Thackeray (on the post of mayor).
"We are watching it neutrally. Many things are happening behind the curtains," Raut said.
Shiv Sena leader Sheetal Mhatre dismissed the speculation surrounding the hotel politics.
Emphasising that the Sena and BJP contested polls as Mahayuti, Mhatre said 20 of the 29 corporators have won for the first time and need to understand how the BMC functions.
"We don't need to resort to hotel politics. The elected corporators have defeated Shiv Sena (UBT) candidates," Mhatre said.
She also rejected reports that the corporators were corralled into a hotel for better bargaining of posts in the BMC.
Senior BJP leader Narayan Rane on Sunday dismissed the remarks of Thackeray and Raut about the Mumbai mayor’s post as wishful thinking despite lacking the required numbers.
"Has Uddhav Thackeray started relying on god now? He has never folded his hands in front of god before. Will the mayor descend from the sky? Just look at the numbers. How will such a huge gap be bridged?" the former Union minister said.