Mumbai, Feb 10 (IANS) Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Tuesday accused the BJP of horse trading in winning the mayoral election in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation.
However, he took a serious objection to the Shiv Sena, a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi and INDIA Alliance to support the BJP instead of Congress in the mayoral poll.
Sapkal said AIMIM remained neutral and thereby helped the BJP.
“As councillors of our new ally, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, remained absent during the voting, the BJP candidate won by a margin of one vote. The stand taken by Shiv Sena (UBT) in Chandrapur will inevitably have repercussions across the state. Should the Congress party take a similar stand in Parbhani?” asked Sapkal.
In Parbhani, Shiv Sena UBT will need Congress support to win the mayoral election. Sapkal said that the invisible alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and AIMIM has once again come to light in Chandrapur, after Anjangaon Surji, Akot, and Achalpur.
“By remaining neutral in the Chandrapur mayoral election, AIMIM effectively helped the BJP; once again, it has become clear that the BJP and AIMIM are two sides of the same coin. Congress made an honest effort to bring the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi along; had they supported Congress, a Congress mayor would have been elected,” he added.
Sapkal further stated, “Efforts were made to bring together the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Vijay Wadettiwar and MP Pratibha Dhanorkar to ensure a Congress mayor, and they worked together accordingly. There has been no split within the Congress. A report on this election will be sought from party observers, and a detailed discussion will be held thereafter.”
Earlier, in a high-stakes political drama, the BJP successfully installed its Mayor in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation, following an unexpected “twist” involving six corporators from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
The election of Sangeeta Khandekar as Mayor marks a significant blow to the Congress party, which had emerged as the single largest party in the recent civic polls but failed to secure the top seat by just one vote.
The Shiv Sena UBT sources said that the decision was taken by the Chandrapur unit to support the BJP as it was not happy with factionalism and internal fight in the Congress party.
The mayoral election witnessed a nail-biting finish. The BJP nominee Sangeeta Khandekar (BJP) got 32 votes against 31 votes bagged by the Congress candidate.
The two corporators of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi remained absent, while the lone AIMIM corporator abstained from the voting. The majority mark was effectively lowered due to the AIMIM’s neutral stance and the VBA’s absence, allowing the BJP to pull off what local analysts are calling a “political miracle.”
–IANS
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