After two months of hectic negotiations, the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday announced its seat-sharing formula with the Republican Party of India (Ramdas Athavale group) with a promise to give the latter a share in the pie of the country’s richest civic body.
The Sena and the RPI have come together for the second time, after the 1967 civic polls when RPI was a single unit. The Sena will contest 135 seats, BJP 63 and RPI 29. In 2007, the BJP had 72 seats and the Sena 155. Since the alliance with RPI was a proposal mooted by the Sena after Athavale spoke to Sena chief Bal Thackeray, the latter has given up 20 seats - including a seat where they have a corporator but its reservation has been changed from OBC to Women (SC).
The RPI has got three seats it had won in 2007 and it will largely be fighting against Congress and Samajwadi Party corporators. The Sena has given two seats won by Arun Gawli’s Akhil Bhartiya Sena (ABS) in Byculla to RPI.
Athavale, who was insisting on one more seat from Sena till Wednesday night, has now been pacified with the promise of a post in the civic body and hopes of more during the 2014 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The Sena has asked Athavale to deal with miffed Dalit Panther leader Namdeo Dhasal, who did not attend the press conference.
“This alliance was necessary and historical... and a dream of many years... The decision is not just for elections. We have come together to fight the corrupt Congress government,” Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said.
Athavale said he had broken his long alliance with the Congress as it used to forget RPI after coming to power and hoped that the Sena would not do the same. “We are satisfied with the seat sharing; both parties had to face difficulties to give us seats. We had asked one more seat yesterday but due to a local combination, there are difficulties in getting that seat. We then took a decision that the alliance should not break due to seat sharing. Our aim now is 2014.”
The Sena and the BJP have exchanged three seats, including ward number 134 in Chembur over which there were fights within the BJP earlier this week. The BJP has given ward numbers 71, 134 and 192 to Sena and got 62, 110 and 206 in return. Though neither party had won these seats in 2007, they are being exchanged to accommodate leaders affected due to change in reservation.
BJP state president Sudhir Mungantiwar said the alliance was reached to best protect the interest of Mumbaikars. “We will show them the Khadakwasla way. We will not let the Cong-NCP enter Mumbai.”
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