Mumbai, Oct 24 (IANS) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday targeted the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena for its repeated claims about retaining supremacy in the upcoming elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

“Mumbai is ours’ and ‘Mumbaikars are behind us’ is the claim made by the Uddhav Thackeray camp, acting as if their name is written on Mumbai’s land records. However, the reality is that Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’s strength in Mumbai has been drastically reduced over the years,” said state BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye. He pointed out that a quick look at some statistics clearly shows the decline that the Thackeray camp is facing.

“Looking at the last five municipal elections, while 112 to 115 seats are needed for a majority, Uddhav’s group hasn’t achieved a majority in the last thirty years, let alone come close to a century mark, managing to do so only once. Struggling to barely reach power, the Uddhav Thackeray camp should look back at some statistics. Out of the last five elections, only once, in 1997, did Thackeray camp manage to elect just over 100 corporators, barely 103. While this was Shiv Sena’s high point in the last 30 years, it was still far from a majority in the BMC,” he said in his post on X.

“Thereafter, starting from the 2002 municipal election, the decline has continued. In 2002, Uddhav Thackeray’s party’s tally came down to 97. In the 2007 election, it slid further to 84 seats, while MNS won 7 seats. In 2012, Uddhav’s group sank even deeper, managing to elect only 75 corporators in the BMC. MNS, on the other hand, won 27 seats,” he stated.

“Proclaiming ‘We rotted in alliance with BJP,’ Uddhav Thackeray sounded the bugle for the 2017 municipal election, but the number of corporators barely reached 84. Of the MNS, whose praises are now being sung, six out of seven corporators were poached,” noted Upadhye.

“In other words, no matter how much they boast, Uddhav’s group never crosses the range of 75 to 85 corporators. And that too, only because of their alliance with BJP! Today, Balasaheb Thackeray’s staunch Shiv Sainik is with Eknath Shinde. The empty chairs at the recent Dussehra rally made it clear that now neither soldiers nor the public are with Uddhav Thackeray camp,” claimed Upadhye.

Upadhye also targeted Shiv Sena(UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, saying that he must keep on talking, as whatever predictions he makes, exactly the opposite is happening.

“Raut had announced that the two Thackerays would show the magic (in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections). However, in just two days, cracks within the Maha Vikas Aghadi surfaced. Congress announced that it does not want to contest BMC elections with Uddhav Thackeray and also Raj Thackeray. Now Samajwadi Party is also going to leave MVA. Over there, the Sharad Pawar faction has no role at all. So, Sanjay Raut, you must keep on talking,” he added.

–IANS

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