Sena (UBT) likely to go it alone in upcoming BMC polls: Sanjay Raut | Mumbai News

Raut claimed that Sena (UBT) workers, office bearers and leaders across the metropolis and the other cities insisted that the party should contest the civic polls on its own.

“Even when we were in the alliance with the BJP, we have been contesting the civic polls, Zila Parishad and other local body elections on our own. It has been happening for years now. So it is not new,” the MP said.

“Now also the party workers are insisting to go solo in the local body polls as there are more aspirants than for the Lok Sabha or Assembly polls. Talks are on between Uddhav Thackeray and other party leaders for the BMC polls,” he said, adding, “We are trying to find ways to do it. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance will be there in the Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nashik civic bodies.”

The undivided Shiv Sena controlled the cash-rich BMC for 25 years from 1997 to 2022. Since March 2022, the civic body has been controlled by an administrator under the state government.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Sanjay Raut said, “It is necessary for Mumbai that Sena (UBT) wins in the city otherwise the city would be separated from Maharashtra by the ruling alliance.”

“If we had more seats to contest in Mumbai (during the Assembly polls), we would have won them,” he said. During the recently held election, the party contested 24 seats in Mumbai and won 10, which is half of the 20 seats it won across the state.

On December 13, Raut had said that MVA partners Congress, the NCP(SP) and Sena (UBT) are yet to decide about contesting the civic polls together.

“So far, no civic or local body polls have been contested in an alliance… Even when there was an alliance of the Congress and the NCP on one side and the (undivided) Sena and the BJP on the other. These are different kinds of polls and must be contested solo to strengthen the local cadre. Then that force is used in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections,” he said then.

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, however, said it appeared that Raut’s statements stemmed from “frustration”. “They are an independent party and if the Sena wishes to go independent, it’s their choice. We are willing to contest in an alliance, but since Raut has presented Sena (UBT)’s stance of going solo, we must seek clarity,” Wadettiwar explained.

After the drubbing in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena (UBT) seems to be returning to its hardcore Hindutva ideology and politics. On Tuesday, Uddhav held a meeting of his party’s former corporators in Mumbai and asked them to focus on the civic body polls and spread the Hindutva ideology in every household in their area.