In a blow to Shiv Sena (UBT) ahead of the Mumbai civic elections, former Mayor Shubha Raul on Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, after resigning from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

Raul’s resignation comes on the same day that Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray announced the manifesto of their alliance, and is being seen as a setback for the Thackeray camp. Voting for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and 28 other civic bodies in Maharashtra is scheduled for January 15.