MUMBAI: The political turbulence within the Shiv Sena (UBT) intensified on Thursday as the party lost a corporator to disqualification, compounding the distress caused by claims that at least 25 of its corporators were ready to defect to the Eknath Shinde-led faction.
Corporator Disqualified
Deepak Sawant, a Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator, was disqualified after the district caste scrutiny committee declared his caste certificate invalid. Mayor Ritu Tawde announced the disqualification in the house. In a separate case, AIMIM corporator Shameer Patel from Govandi's M-East Ward also faced caste certificate invalidation but secured interim relief from a court, staying the cancellation of his membership.
Defection Claims
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena politician Amey Ghole fueled speculation about a fresh round of defections in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Ghole claimed that 25 corporators from the Shiv Sena (UBT) were in direct contact with party leader Eknath Shinde and were unhappy with the lack of accessibility to their own leadership.
“The UBT Shiv Sena faction is stifling its elected representatives. MPs and MLAs are not getting adequate opportunities to meet the party leadership. This is the main reason behind the discontent within the party,” Ghole said while addressing the media. He added that several legislators and MPs had expressed a preference for Shinde's style of functioning.
Ghole stated that the Shiv Sena had launched a concerted drive to bring two-thirds of the Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators into its fold, with party MPs, MLAs, and corporators assigned specific responsibilities to facilitate the exercise. This development comes on a day when it became clear that six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs were going to switch their allegiance in the Lok Sabha.
The political maneuvers underscore the continuing rift within the Shiv Sena, with the Shinde faction aggressively seeking to expand its base at the expense of the Uddhav Thackeray-led camp.
