The ShivSena leaders are allegedly unhappy with Airoli and Belapur seat being offered to the BJP.
Mumbai: Currently, the seat-sharing arrangement between the Bharatiya Janata Party and ShivSena is causing an uproar in the ranks of both parties ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls. The present seat-sharing plan has caused dissension in ShivSena’s Navi Mumbai cadre. More than 200 Navi Mumbai ShivSena workers including the city chief and district vice-president have submitted resignations.
The leaders are allegedly unhappy over Airoli and Belapur seats being offered to the BJP, especially to a new entrant that is former NCP leader Ganesh Naik. The Navi Mumbai area has traditionally seen a poll battle between heavyweight leader Ganesh Naik and the Shiv Sena.
Ganesh Naik has been a cabinet minister for 15 years holding important portfolios. Naik’s son and Airoli MLA Sandeep already joined the BJP last month. The Naik family has ruled the satellite town of Navi Mumbai for years.
The cash-rich Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is ruled by the Ganesh Naik family and its supporters. During the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP and the ShivSena had contested separately over a dispute over the sharing of seats.
The BJP won 122 out of 260 seats it had contested while the Sena bagged 63 out of 282 seats. After the BJP formed the government in October 2014, the Sena joined it in December the same year. The present scenario of Maharashtra politics has completely favoring BJP. ShivSena has bagged 2nd rank in Seat- Sharing and popularity.
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