MVA slams J P Nadda over comment on next Mumbai mayor

Hours after BJP national president J P Nadda asked party workers to ensure that the next mayor in Mumbai should be from the national saffron party, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slammed him on Thursday for his comments.

Nadda’s statement came during the whirlwind tour in Mumbai and Pune, during which he launched preparations for the 2023 local bodies polls in Maharashtra and the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls.

Also Read: Ensure next mayor of Mumbai will be from BJP: Nadda tells party workers

It may be mentioned, the local bodies polls in Maharashtra which includes big cities like Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Amravati - has been pending for one to two years now for multiple reasons.

However, the MVA allies - NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) slammed Nadda.

The civic polls are significant for the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-headed Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and the MVA - and a litmus test for both the groupings in the run-up to the general elections.

NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that the incumbent state government is avoiding the polls. “…but Nadda must know that to have a mayor, they must first contest BMC election which the state government led by his party is avoiding because an internal survey of BJP’s Maharashtra unit shows that if elections are held now they will lose and having Eknath Shinde group on board has also not gained them any voters, in fact, they know that they have lost credibility by aligning with them after orchestrating a coup.”

Also Read: Development stopped under MVA, says Nadda in Maharashtra

Crasto said that either the BJP’s Mumbai unit has not appraised Nadda of the prevailing unacceptably of the party by voters in Mumbai and Maharashtra or he is aware and therefore trying to create a perception that everything is alright and they are sure of winning. “Nadda is so sure of having the next Mumbai mayor from BJP, he should make a call for the BMC election to be held immediately, otherwise it will prove that they are afraid of going to polls and all that he said in Mumbai was only to create a false winning narrative,” he added.

State Congress President Nana Patole said Nadda has no value in his own party and the party has lost badly in Karnataka.

“It's strange that the national president of the BJP should be talking about city mayor elections… It seems next he will be deciding who will be sarpanches,” said Patole.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said: “Nadda is welcome in Mumbai and Maharashtra as that would ensure the BJP’s defeat here in the next elections, starting with BMC”.