Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Friday indicated that the party would fight the local body polls, including the BMC election, on its own.
On whether the MVA would stay intact for local body polls, Raut said the Shiv Sena (UBT) had never fought these or the BMC election in alliance with anybody.
“Sena always fights local body polls alone. Local body polls have not been fought in an alliance so far. Even when there was a Sena-BJP alliance or the Congress-NCP alliance, these polls were not fought in alliance. These are different kind of elections. Those who want to fight alone must be allowed to fight alone. Workers must be given strength, and this strength will be helpful in assembly and Lok Sabha polls,” Raut said.
Congress’s Vijay Waddettiwar said the Congress was willing to fight as part of the alliance.
“There is some frustration being seen in Raut’s statements. Out of dejection or disappointment, he must have said they want to go it alone. It is their party; they have their own ideology, and so they can take their decision to fight alone. This is their right. We are willing to fight in the alliance. Once we have clarity on Sanjay Raut’s statement, then we will take our decision too,” he said.
Last week, newly elected MLAs and functionaries of the Shiv Sena (UBT) urged party chief Uddhav Thackeray to fight local body polls alone in all seats and not be part of the MVA, at least in cities where the Shiv Sena (UBT) had a presence and had been a dominant force till recently.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Ambadas Danve on Wednesday admitted that MLAs and functionaries want the party to fight upcoming polls alone and that they had expressed this view before Thackeray.
“Some people have said that we must fight local body polls alone. We are not denying this. Many office bearers have said Sena UBT must fight alone. This is true that there is a view that we must build our organisation and fight on all seats alone,” Danve said.
