BJP to go solo in BMC poll to demolish mafia raj: Kirit Somaiya

However, CM disowns his announcement, says it is not the party's official stand

Differences surfaced in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the crucial issue of going solo or tying up with the Shiv Sena in the ensuing election to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) slated for 2017. BJP MP Kirit Somaiya today unilaterally declared that the party will contest all 227 seats while taking smaller and like-minded parties together. Somaiya made this announcement on the first day of the two-day meeting of the state BJP executive which began here. However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis immediately refuted Somaiya's announcement and clarified that it was not party's official stand.

Interestingly, Shiv Sena and BJP alliance has been ruling BMC for last 25 years.

Somiaya led a blistering attack against Shiv Sena for converting BMC into a mafia den. He declared that BJP was determined to demolish the mafia raj after winning the election. He refrained from naming Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, but alleged that ''one family'' was responsible for the present state of affairs in the civic body, which is India's richest with an annual budget of more than Rs 38,000 crore.

Shiv Sena corporator Kishori Pednekar retaliated by warning Somaiya to stop issuing threats of demolishing her party in the poll battle. She also said Shiv Sena is not weak and her party should not be taken for granted. Pednekar said Mumbaikars have a tremendous faith in the Thackeray family and hence the party is winning successive elections.

However, some leaders from BJP and Shiv Sena indicated that Somaiya's announcement may be aimed at claiming more seats during seat-sharing talks with Shiv Sena.

A chorus is increasing within both the BJP and the Shiv Sena, especially after the duo separately fought the state assembly elections held in 2014. What has further annoyed Shiv Sena is the fact that BJP won 15 seats -- one more than it -- in Greater Mumbai. Though Shiv Sena joined the BJP led government in December 2014, tension is growing between the two.

Somaiya has been targeting Shiv Sena on the alleged rampant corruption in BMC. He claimed that BMC was in the grip of a powerful mafia which was controlled from Bandra. He went on to add that there is corruption in every BMC department.

''Name any BMC office, there are skeletons rattling in its cupboards. There is a 'Saheb' who lives in Bandra; he has two advisors'; one his 'Saala' (brother-in-Law), the other Saheb's personal aide'. Saheb take orders from duo and passes them on to the mafia," Somaiya had recently alleged.