BJP backs MNS candidate Sheetal Mandari as ward committee chairperson in KDMC; Sena (UBT) questions stand

Politics in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has stirred afresh. Sheetal Mandari, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate, was elected unopposed in the election for ward committee chairperson. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction has since sharply criticised the BJP.

Umesh Borgaonkar, the Thackeray faction's group leader in the KDMC, alleged that the BJP changed its stand by supporting the MNS candidate. Borgaonkar asked how the BJP, which used to say it would not share power with the MNS, had now backed the MNS candidate. According to him, the BJP's decision has put a question mark over its earlier stand.

Borgaonkar said the BJP stood by the MNS candidate despite raising the issue that the MNS had insulted BJP leaders. He recalled that BJP leaders had earlier said they would not sit in power with the MNS. He also claimed that the BJP had put forward the position that the Shiv Sena Shinde faction should keep the MNS out of power.

Borgaonkar alleged that by supporting the MNS candidate, the BJP's double role has now come to light. Targeting the BJP, he said, "How desperate the BJP is for power."

After Mandari's unopposed election, the BJP's support has become a talking point in political circles. The Thackeray faction has criticised the party by citing its earlier stand. The ward committee chairperson election in the KDMC and the exchange of charges that followed have put the roles of the parties back in discussion in local politics.

Political circles are now watching how the BJP responds to Borgaonkar's criticism. The picture of this political dispute may become clearer once the BJP's official position on supporting the MNS candidate is known.