Cong. fighting BMC polls alone will only help BJP: Sena (UBT)

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday urged the Congress to think over going solo in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, cautioning that the move would only help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and weaken the Opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi combine.

“Bihar election verdict reflects what games the BJP is playing… so we have to fight unitedly,” an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana stated. In a bid to address the Congress’s concerns over a potential dent in its north Indian and Muslim voter base if the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is taken on board in the Opposition bloc, the editorial also questioned what happened to the Congress’s vote bank in Bihar, where Shiv Sena (UBT) or the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) were not there.

Local Congress leaders had earlier indicated that the party is preparing to contest the upcoming civic polls independently.

In reaction, State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, said, “Whether these comparisons have any substance, it is to be thought. What happened in Maharashtra, the same happened in Haryana and Bihar. Despite having a coalition of 10 parties, we lost in Bihar. In Maharashtra, we won as an alliance in the Lok Sabha and also lost in the Assembly election. So, we don’t have to compare anything.”

State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said defeating the BJP cannot come at the cost of compromising on constitutional values. Mr. Sawant said political differences can exist, but acknowledging them is important. “If matters had been clarified at the beginning, we would have stated our position clearly.

“Congress has never compromised on ideology. Our politics is rooted in constitutional values, equality, and inclusivity,” Mr. Sawant said, adding the party had opposed the MNS’s linguistic politics and tactic of physical intimidation from the beginning.