Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 18 (ANI): Congress MP Imran Masood on Sunday took a swipe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over the Maharashtra local body election results, saying Shinde is now fighting to protect his political existence and accusing the BJP of undermining its own allies.
Speaking to ANI, Massod said, “Eknath Shinde now has to fight to save his political existence, whether his political being will remain or not. The BJP works to defeat all its allied parties… Now he should give up his attachment to power and save his existence.”
Masood’s remarks came after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister reportedly moved his corporators to a hotel and is likely to stake a claim to the mayor’s post for his party’s elected corporators.
Earlier today, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut demanded the “release” of Mumbai corporators confined to the “Taj Hotel Jail,” and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should take action and order their release.
Raut claimed that Shinde sequestered the newly elected corporators in the hotel, fearing defections ahead of the decision on the Mumbai mayor.
The Sena (UBT) leader Raut said that Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has become an “appendage” of the BJP.
“What position Eknath Shinde is holding out for is a matter for him and his party. His party is an appendage of the BJP. Amit Shah is their leader. They will go to him and make demands, but according to my information, Fadnavis will not listen to them,” Raut said.
Raut said Shinde despite holding the powerful position of a Deputy Chief Minister, was apprehensive that his corporators would switch sides, terming the whole situation as “ridiculous.”
“They have kept their corporators confined. They broke away the MLAs, so now they have to keep the corporators confined as well. They had taken the MLAs to Surat. Eknath Shinde himself is the Deputy Chief Minister, yet he is afraid that his corporators will run away, what a ridiculous situation this is…” Raut said.
“The corporators who have come from this alliance (BJP-Shiv Sena)… out of fears that someone will kidnap them, threaten them, or harm them, they have been kept captive in the Taj Hotel. Eknath Shinde has turned the Taj Hotel into a Jail. He should immediately release the twenty-nine or twenty-five people he has held captive there. The CM should order the police to break the “jail” and release the corporators,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the Mahayuti will form Mayors in 25 of the state’s 29 civic bodies.
Among all winning candidates in the BMC polls, the BJP’s vote share stands at 45.22 per cent, making it the single largest party in the civic body. Its alliance partner, the Shiv Sena, secured 29 seats with 2,73,326 votes, translating into five per cent of the total vote share.
On the other side, the Shiv Sena (UBT), contesting in alliance with the MNS, won 65 seats. The UBT-led Sena polled 7,17,736 votes, accounting for 13.13 per cent of the total votes cast. The MNS added 6 seats to the alliance tally, with 74,946 votes and a 1.37 per cent vote share.
The Indian National Congress (INC) secured 24 seats, polling 2,42,646 votes, which represents 4.44 per cent of the total vote share. (ANI)