Mumbai, February 11 MVA allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress engaged in a heated exchange of words on Wednesday over the events in Maharashtra's Chandrapur municipal body, in which the former supported the rival BJP in the mayoral elections a day earlier. While Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut squarely blamed the Congress for the "mess" it created, and said it should be "ashamed" of not being able to gain power in Chandrapur despite emerging as the single largest party, the grand old party retaliated in the same manner and also demanded an explanation from the ally. The faction-ridden Congress suffered a major embarrassment on Tuesday after a surprise alliance between rivals Sena (UBT) and the BJP led to the election of a BJP mayor in the 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 the unity of the Opposition and the viability of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Chandrapur is one of the few municipal corporations where the Congress 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 created an opening for the BJP. Raut on Wednesday blamed the Congress for the "mess". 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 twist. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Raut said the move by the Sena (UBT) corporators to support the BJP in the mayoral polls was taken at the local level and not by the party 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 MVA. Raut said 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. "Still, due to the Congress's "mess", local (Shiv Sena-UBT) leaders have made this decision. This does not mean we have joined hands with the BJP," the Rajya Sabha member said. He said the Congress 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 probed at the highest level. There is no point in blaming the Shiv Sena (UBT)," Raut said. He further said that the VBA and AIMIM did not support the Congress in the mayoral polls because there was no unanimity in the party. Talking to PTI, state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said the Shiv Sena (UBT) should answer why it gave a free hand to its corporators to vote for the BJP. "Our corporators stayed united and didn't cross vote. If you had an issue about our infighting, you could have abstained or remained absent during the voting for the mayor's post," he said. Sapkal said the Congress was in touch with the Shiv Sena (UBT) leadership, who assured that at no point its corporators will vote for the BJP. Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Atul Londhe told PTI that the Shiv Sena (UBT) should be ashamed of itself as it pretends to be against the BJP, but at the same time supports it for the sake of power.
