BJP-Shinde combine will win more than 150 seats in BMC polls: Ashish Shelar

The BJP and the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will win more than 150 seats in the upcoming BMC elections the partys city president Ashish Shelar said on Wednesday reiterating his senior leader and Union minister Amit Shahs Mission 150 seatsThe BJP will also have its mayor in Mumbai said Shelar at an event organised by the regional newspaper LoksattaThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has 227 seats in the House It is currently under an administrator as the fiveyear term of its elected representatives ended early last year and fresh polls are dueThe BJP along with our alliance partner CM Eknath Shinde will win more than 150 seats The mayor of the new civic body will be from the BJP said ShelarThe Shiv Sena has controlled the BMC Asias richest civic body with an annual budget of nearly Rs 45000 crore since 1997 But the last election in 2017 was a close contest as it won 84 seats just two more than the BJPAlso Read Mumbai BJP kept BMCrsquos coffers safe from extortionists says Ashish ShelarAfter returning to power in Maharashtra with an alliance with Shinde whose revolt split the Shiv Sena and led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackerayled MVA government last year the BJP is keen to wrest the control of the BMC from the SenaLast week the saffron party got Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stones and inaugurate a string of projects worth Rs 38000 crore aimed at developing infrastructure easing urban travel and strengthening healthcare in the countrys financial capitalShelar said There is a difference between the Shiv Sena led by late Balasaheb Thackeray and the current one under Uddhav Thackeray Balasaheb was a largehearted person always open for dialogue and the foundation of his alliance with BJP was HindutvaHe said several remarks of Uddhav Thackeray in the past were critical of the BJP While sharing power with the BJP in the state government between 2014 and 2019 Uddhav once said that his party had rotted during the more than 25 years of alliance with the BJP Before the 2014 assembly elections he broke the alliance with us for over just one seat he saidHe again joined hands with us ahead of the 2019 assembly elections but broke it after the results were out There is an inconsistency in her behaviour said the former state ministerAsked about PM Modis role in the BMC elections Shelar said He will naturally remain the face of our campaign like Deputy Chief Minister Devendra FadnavisReminding his partys rank and file of the Shiv Senas betrayal in 2014 Union Home Minister Amit Shah had last year asked BJP workers to hit the ground for the BMC polls for which he fixed a target of Mission 150 seatsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever