CM meets PM in Delhi, stalemate may be over
BJP likely to support Sena Mayor
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi for over an hour on Tuesday and the deadlock at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) could well be over.
Informed sources told Free Press Journal that on top of the agenda was the problem that had arisen after the Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP both at the Centre and the state, demanded the BMC Mayor’s post. It is believed that the Prime Minister advised Fadnavis to patch up with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and extend support to his candidate.
Modi is also believed to have asked the Maharashtra chief minister to focus on the post of Chairman of Standing Committee at the BMC and other positions in the municipal body.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with the PM, Fadnavis told reporters, “Yes, I have discussed the deadlock at the BMC over the Mayor’s post.” Sources said that Modi was not in favour of any political instability in Maharashtra that would land the BJPSena government in the state in trouble. Senior BJP ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Chandrakant Patil, too, felt it wouldn’t be prudent to make the Mayor’s election an ego issue.
At the meeting, Fadnavis apprised the PM on the steady inroads that the BJP is making in Maharashtra. In the recently-concluded municipal and zilla parishad polls, the BJP could breach many Sena strongholds. Outside Mumbai, it was a virtual sweep for the BJP.
Modi is also believed to have asked Maharashtra CM to focus on the post of Chairman of Standing Committee at the BMC
The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) overwhelming success in the civic body polls has boosted the prospects for the party city chief Ashish Shelar. It is being speculated his leader and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will offer Shelar a ministerial portfolio in the Maharashtra government.
However, it remains to be seen who would be named as the saffron party's next Mumbai President.
A source from BJP has said the city's responsibility would be given to someone who is the favourite of the parent body of the party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
A party insider said, "Shelar is a grass root party worker and has been a well-established sanghi, the responsibility will be passed on to an aspirant who is also a party worker and a staunch supporter of the RSS."
The new BJP president candidate will have work chalked out for the next two years, in preparation for the next Assembly elections expected to be held in 2019.
The leader said, “Such a candidate will need to have strong connections with the cadre and one who will be able to get BJP ahead of all parties for the next Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.”