A meeting of BJP leaders, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar was held on Sunday to finalise the party’s nominees for the February 21 BMC polls.
After Shiv Sena announced that it will be contesting the polls sans any tie up with BJP, the dominant ruling alliance partner is in the process of finalising candidates for the 227 member BMC. BJP will leave some seats for its smaller allies, a BJP functionary said.
Today, list of 120 candidates was finalised, while the remaining list will be finalised on Monday, he said. The party’s poll manifesto for the BMC polls will be released soon, he added.
Meanwhile, state BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari, without naming Sena leader Sanjay Raut, said “it is a puzzle why only one person (in the Sena) is responding to Chief Minister’s reference of Mahabharat character Shakuni mama, at the BJP rally on Sunday evening.
“In Mahabharata, it was Shakuni mama who was responsible for the defeat of Kauravas and in this version of Mahabharata on Sunday also, he will ensure their defeat,” Bhandari said.
Earlier, Sanjay Raut trained his guns at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and alleged that he is surrounded by ‘shakuni’.
“Even the Chief Minister has filled his party with ‘gundas’ as many of the members are rapists, murderers, thieves, dacoit, hooligans. Our party is the protector of Maharashtra’s culture. The BJP has given space to 2000 gundas in their party. There is no difference between the BJP and Samajwadi Party,” Raut had said.
The Shiv Sena leader further accused the BJP of raking up the Ram temple issue only during elections.
“The BJP will not get 280 seats in Lok Sabha. So, if they want to build Ram temple then make it now. The BJP will not get a second chance and why they always remember the Ram Mandir issue during elections and they send Ram ji to exile after the elections,” he added.
