Mumbai, February 11 Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, whose party surprised everyone by supporting the rival BJP in the mayoral elections in Maharashtra's Chandrapur municipal body, squarely blamed his MVA ally, the Congress, for the "mess" on Wednesday. He said the Congress should be "ashamed" of not being able to gain power in Chandrapur despite emerging as the single largest party, and added that there was no point in blaming his party for the political developments. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Raut said that the move by the Sena (UBT) corporators to back the BJP in the mayoral polls was taken at the local level and not by the Shiv Sena (UBT) leadership. While the BJP shares power with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the NCP in the state government, the Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP), and the Congress are constituents of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Raut said that Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had given clear instructions to the party functionaries in Chandrapur not to help the BJP in any way, even if that meant sitting in the Opposition. "Despite this, due to the Congress's missteps, local (Shiv Sena-UBT) leaders have made this decision. This does not mean that we have joined hands with the BJP," Raut said. The faction-ridden Congress suffered a major embarrassment after a surprise alliance between the Sena (UBT) and the BJP led to the election of a BJP mayor in Chandrapur Municipal Corporation, despite the grand old party being in a position to claim the post. BJP's Sangeeta Khandekar won the mayoral election by a single vote, defeating Congress candidate Vaishali Mahadule, with the Thackeray-led party extending support to the saffron party. Sena (UBT) corporator Prashant Danav was elected deputy mayor. This development raised serious questions about Opposition unity and the viability of the MVA. Chandrapur is one of the few municipal corporations where the Congress had emerged as the largest party and was poised to secure the mayor's post. However, deep internal divisions between factions led by Vijay Wadettiwar and Pratibha Dhanorkar handed an opening to the BJP. Attacking the Congress, Raut said that the party should be ashamed that despite having the highest number of corporators, they could not win power in Chandrapur. In the elections held for the 66-member civic body last month, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 27 seats, followed closely by the BJP with 23. The Sena (UBT) won six seats, the Bharatiya Shetkari Kamgar Paksh (Janvikas Sena) three, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) two, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Shiv Sena secured one seat each. Two Independents were also elected. "Who is responsible for this? This should be investigated at the highest level. There is no point in blaming the Shiv Sena (UBT)," Raut said. He further said that the VBA and the AIMIM did not back the Congress in the mayoral polls because there was no unanimity in the party. Regarding NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar's raising several questions over the January 28 Baramati plane crash that killed deputy chief minister and his uncle Ajit Pawar, Raut said that there is scope for suspicion. "Maharashtra should consider what Rohit Pawar has presented," he said. "Was there a pre-planned conspiracy? Someone important from the Pawar family who is a lawmaker has raised this," he said. He said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should probe all angles related to Ajit Pawar's death as pointed out by Rohit Pawar.
