MUMBAI: Following the drubbing in the Maharashtra assembly polls, cracks have started appearing in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance as Shiv Sena (UBT)’s newly elected MLAs and functionaries have urged party chief Uddhav Thackeray to contest civic and local bodies elections independently, at least in cities where the party was a dominant force until recently.
“Some netas and functionaries have expressed the view that Sena (UBT) must build the party… and contest all local body polls alone,” Sena (UBT) MLC Ambadas Danve said on Wednesday.
Sources said Thackeray will soon take a decision on the matter as he has asked the party cadres to prepare for the BMC elections, which may be held early next year.
Sena (UBT) functionaries said the party may contest all 227 BMC seats and give tickets to Muslim candidates instead of having an alliance with Congress, NCP (SP), and Samajwadi Party, which are currently part of MVA. “We were together in the Lok Sabha polls and won seats. But in the state assembly elections, results were different. We didn’t expect to face such a crushing defeat. So there is this kind of sentiment among the party workers,” Danve said.