Mumbai polls

Maharashtracongresschiefashokchavan convened a meeting of senior party leaders where the Sena’s option is said to have been discussed.formerchiefministerssushilkumar Shinde and Narayan Rane; Mumbai Congress chiefsanjaynirupam;mphussaindalwaiand former Maharashtra ministers Naseem Khan and Balasaheb Thorat attended the meeting. Earlier in the day, Congress MLA Abdul Sattar, who is seen as Ashok Chavan’s close aide, had set the ball rolling.

“Thepartywilltakeacallonextendingsupportafterreceivingaformalproposalfromthe Shiv Sena. Since the BJP is our principal rival, the party’s state unit will submit a formal proposal to the high command on supporting the Shivsenanotonlyinthebmcbutinothercivic bodies and Zilla Parishads across the state.”

Thursday’s election results had thrown up a hung verdict. The Shiv Sena won 84 seats in the227-membercorporationwhilethebjpwas a close second with 82 — an almost three-fold surge.whileboththeshivsenaandthebjpare reachingouttoindependentstopadtheirnumbers, they are aware that neither can reach the magicmarkof114withoutcongress’ssupport.

Thecongresswon31seats(downfrom52), the Nationalist Congress Party 9, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 7, the All India Majlis-eittehadul Muslimeen won two, and Arun Gawli’s Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS) one. Five Independents were also elected to the house. So far the Shiv Sena has received support from twoindependentswhilethebjphasmanaged one.theabsisexpectedtobacktheshivsena.

While the easier option of the Shiv Sena andthebjpburyingtheirdifferencesandcoming back together remains open, Thackeray’s party has dropped hints that it’s not averse to exercising the more improbable option of taking Congress support.

On the face of it, both the Shiv Sena and the Congress remained non-committal. “We are celebrating today. We have come to power for thefifthconsecutivetimeinmumbai.ihaven’t through of anything else right now,” said Uddhavthackeraywhenaskedaboutwhowill decidemumbai’snextmayor.proddedfurther, he said, “Discussions are on,” while opting not to reveal with whom.

On Thursday after the poll outcome, Thackeray announced that the party would win the Mayoral poll but didn’t elaborate.

Chavan, too, adopted a wait-and-watch stance. “The SS and the BJP continue to coexist in an alliance in the state and the Centre. It is for them to first take a call on the fate of their alliance. Only after that can we decide our position. Right now we are a third party,” he said.

However,aseniorsenaleader,whowished not to be named, tried to justify the move. “In thepast,wehadbrokenfromndarankstoextendsupporttocongress’snomineespratibha Patilandpranabmukherjeeforthepresident’s post.weseenoreasonwhythecongresscan’t extend us support to keep the BJP at bay.”

Shivsenasourcessaidthepartywasalsoin talkswiththencp.“wearebankingonsupport fromthemns.thespandthemimcanabstain orremainneutralduringthevoteforthemayor to see us through,” another leader said.

During the meeting of senior Congress leaders,sourcesconfirmedthatsomespokein favour of backing the Shiv Sena. But others were wary of the “negative signal” this would send to the party’s loyal minority voters.

Some senior Congress leaders argued that the Sena had sent a Muslim candidate to the housefrombandra’sbehrampadawhichisminority-dominated. They said that the party’s central leadership had been apprised of the Sena’s proposal and word was awaited. There is another section in the party which feels that extending support formally to the Shiv Sena would impact the party’s poll prospects in UP.

An alternate option of indirectly helping the Sena by abstaining from voting for the Mayor’s post was also discussed. When contacted, Nirupam said: “Our mandate is to sit in opposition,”hesaid.buthereiteratedchavan’s stance that it was up to the Sena and the BJP to take a call on their alliance first.

Whilethebjpcampisyettoformallyreach outtothackeray,unionministernitingadkari pushed for an alliance. “The situation is such that both parties (BJP and Sena) have to come together,” Gadkari said, adding that a final decision would be taken by CM Devendra Fadnavisanduddhavthackeray.“bothofthem are mature. They are good friends,” he said.

Thackerayhascalledameetingofhissenior leadersandnewlyelectedcorporatorssaturday.