Sena stuns BJP, backs Congress
The Shiv Sena shocked the Bharatiya Janata Party by supporting a
Congress candidate in the first-ever mayoral election held in the
newly-created Chandrapur Municipal Corporation.
Congress candidate
Sangita Amrutkar defeated BJP candidate Sushma Nagose in state BJP
president Sudhir Mungantiwar’s hometown. Interestingly, the Congress
also snubbed its alliance partner the Nationalist Congress Party.
No party had managed to win the majority in the 66-member House,
though the Congress, with 26 seats, emerged as the single largest
party. It was a big blow to the BJP that was hoping for victory in the
turf of Mr Mungantiwar. While, the BJP finished with only 18 seats,
the Sena and NCP won five and four seats respectively, and 10 seats
were taken by Independents.
In the mayoral election, Ms Amrutkar won 44 votes, while Ms Nagose
received 22 votes. The Sena’s support tilted the contest completely in
favour of the Congress. In return, the Sena got the post of deputy
mayor.
According to sources from the Shiv Sena, the party had taken the
revenge for the Nashik Municipal Corporation election debacle, where
the BJP supported a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena candidate in the
mayoral election and got the post of deputy mayor in return. However,
the development in Chandrapur has left Mr Mungantiwar livid. He said
that the BJP is free to take its own decisions in future.
“Whether to support the Congress or not is Sena’s decision. It is an
independent party. They had supported the Congress even in the last
Presidential election. But in future, the BJP can also take
independent decisions. There is no guarantee that the Shiv Sena and
BJP will always have same stand on issues,” Mr Mungantiwar said.
Apart from the Sena, the Congress was also supported by 10
Independents, along with three corporators (one each from
MNS, BSP and Bharip Mahasangh).
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