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Ever since the Maharashtra civic election results were declared 11 days ago, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has been dialling phones, writing emails and making house calls. Despairing, it has finally gone to the police and
So far, it has not turned up its four newly elected Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) members, whom the Sena (UBT) is looking for, in a continuation of the blatant tug-of-war over the state’s civic bodies.
The 122-member KDMC election was the second-most watched municipal contest after Mumbai, and with no clear majority for any party, the tussle for its control, including the mayor’s post, continues – making Madhur Mhatre, Kirti Dhone, Swapnali Kene and Rahul Kot, all first-time corporators, the KDMC’s most valuable.
While the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is the single-largest party in the corporation with 53 members, the BJP has 50. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) won five wards, and the Sena (UBT) 11, including the four wards whose corporators are now “missing”.
Sena (UBT) leaders claim that the four corporators are in contact with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which has moved them to an undisclosed location.
The Shinde Sena already has the support of the MNS’s five corporators, and four more of the Sena (UBT) would take its tally to the majority mark of 62 in the 122-member house.
While the BJP is ruled out of the mayor’s race as the post is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe category in this term, and the party does not have an eligible corporator, control of the KDMC would be a major boost for the Shinde Sena in its battle of oneupmanship against ally BJP.
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Lately, the Kalyan-Dombivli region has also emerged as a political battleground between Shinde and BJP Maharashtra president Ravindra Chavan. While the Deputy Chief Minister has traditionally enjoyed influence in the region and his son Shrikant Shinde is the Lok Sabha MP from Kalyan, Chavan hails from Dombivli.
An upper hand in the KDMC would also be a good bargaining chip at a time when the post of Mumbai mayor is still up for grabs.
The Sena (UBT) worries that in this power game, its corporators have become pawns. Of the four, Mhatre and Dhone were earlier associated with the Shinde Sena but contested the KDMC elections on the UBT ticket after failing to secure nominations on its ticket. Mhatre beat former deputy mayor Vicky Tare from Ward 21 in Kalyan East, while Dhone won from Ward 13 A in Kalyan East.
Kot, who won from Ward 4 in Dombivli, and Swapnali Kene, the winner from Ward 6 in Kalyan West, are said to have started out in the MNS.
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The UBT’s Kalyan East district chief Sharad Patil, who lodged a complaint at the Kolsewadi Police Station about the “missing” corporators, urged police to trace them using CCTVs, Call Data Records and mobile tower locations. A senior police officer said the matter is being looked into.
Alleging that “inducements” were being offered to corporators, Patil said: “They (the four) got tickets from us, contested on our symbol, and won because people voted for the Sena (UBT). Now they have suddenly gone untraceable. This is a betrayal of the people of Kalyan.”
Claiming that the Shinde Sena is trying to wean away more of the UBT’s corporators, Patil said: “I myself received calls… They are saying they will ensure we are not disqualified even if the anti-defection law is applied.” However, he said, the party will initiate disqualification proceedings against anyone crossing over.
Patil added that their calls, emails and attempts to reach out to the four via common contacts had failed. “When we went to their houses, family members refused to tell us their whereabouts and even reacted aggressively.”
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In the meantime, the Sena (UBT) has formally registered its remaining seven corporators as a separate group in the KDMC.
