Raj Thackeray's MNS Backs Eknath Shinde's Sena in Kalyan-Dombivli | Does This Foil BJP's Mayoral Bid?

Kalyan: The political drama in Maharashtra intensified on Wednesday as Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) tied up with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC). The alliance comes despite the bitter rivalry between the two leaders.

What Does This Mean?

The KDMC is a 122-member corporation, with the majority mark being 62 seats. In the recently-concluded elections, Shinde's Shiv Sena won 53 seats and its Mahayuti ally BJP won 51 seats. Meanwhile, MNS won five seats and Uddhav Thackeray's Sena won 11 seats.

With the combined strength of Shinde's Sena and MNS, the two parties have a total of 58 seats, just four seats less than the majority mark. With the backing of just a handful of supporters from Uddhav Thackeray's Sena, Shinde's Sena and MNS could form a government in Kalyan-Dombivli. In such a scenario, the support of BJP would no longer be needed and the new development could foil the saffron party's plan to make a BJP leader the Mayor of KDMC. 

As per reports, two corporators from the Uddhav faction are unreachable and are said to have joined the MNS and the Shinde faction. Two more corporators from the Uddhav faction are also with this new alliance of Shinde and MNS, the reports added.

This comes amid reports of differences between Shinde's Sena and BJP over the Mayor's post.

However, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said that Sena, MNS and BJP will together decide on who will become the Mayor of Kalyan. He said, "Shiv Sena has brought its 53 corporators here. MNS has also brought its corporators here and extended their support to Mahayuti. We will form government with BJP, Shiv Sena, MNS and other parties here in Kalyan-Dombivli. Mumbai will also get a mayor of the Mahayuti."

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