Shiv Sena

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

state assembly elections

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

BJP MLA Ganesh Naik

civic polls

Party’s former chief of Aurangabad city unit and eight corporators join Sena; in Navi Mumbai four BJP corporators resign and are likely to join Sena.In a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its former city unit chief in Aurangabad, Kishanchand Tanwani, joined theon Wednesday, while in Navi Mumbai, four of its corporators quit the party.The developments are significant since Aurangabad and Navi Mumbai will go to polls in March or early April.Tanwani, a former MLA, met Sena chief andat Matoshree on Wednesday.Sena sources said that along with Tanwani, eight BJP corporators, joined the Sena. Five other BJP corporators are said to be in touch with the NCP.During thein October last year, Tanwani had filed his nomination papers from Aurangabad Central constituency, where Sena had fielded former member of Parliament Pradeep Jaiswal.“Tanwani was a former Shiv Sainik. He still wields a lot of clout in the region, and his entry will help boost the Sena’s presence in Aurangabad. We will be able to wrest control of the corporation,” said a Sena functionary. Tanwani has promised to bring more sitting BJP corporators into Sena’s fold, he said.However, sitting BJP city chief Sanjay Kenekar claimed that Tanwani’s exit will not make any difference to the BJP. “The people of Aurangabad will vote for the BJP for the development work that it has done,” Kenekar said.In Navi Mumbai, four corporators who had joined the BJP just before the state assembly polls last year, resigned from the party and theon Tuesday. They are Suresh Kulkarni, Radha Kulkarni, Sangita Waske and Gavli Mudrika.“I have resigned from the corporation as I did not want to continue as BJP corporator. My ward has a large population of Muslims and Dalits. The people of my ward requested me not to continue with the BJP. I have to be with my people and work for them,” said Suresh Kulkarni.He said that he had not resigned because his demands were not fulfilled. “The flyover which I had demanded has been cleared, with only signatures of the commissioner remaining. I left just for the sake of my people. Four of us have resigned, and I don’t know about others,” he said.The four had switched sides along with a few other corporators from NCP to BJP just before the assembly polls.These corporators are believed to be close toAccording to one of the corporators, who did not want to be named, all the four are likely to join Shiv Sena.Political observers said that the twowould be a sort of precursor to the 2022 civic elections in urban areas of Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Nagpur, among others. They are the first elections where the BJP is fighting a lone battle against the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi.