Thane: The tussle between politicians of the Mahayuti alliance partners for supremacy in Thane district seems to have come to the fore after BJP leader and cabinet minister Ganesh Naik laid bare his intent to increase his presence in the district.
Naik, while addressing a meeting in Thane city late Tuesday, said he wanted to understand the issues of local residents and expressed his intent to hold ‘janta darbars’ in the district – the stronghold of the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. Naik earlier was with the Shiv Sena before he switched loyalties to the NCP and subsequently to the BJP. Naik also served as guardian minister of Thane and never hid his ambition of making a comeback.
“The development of districts is a collective responsibility… I may hold janta darbars in Palghar once every three months and may conduct sessions in Thane city once every two months and every month in my stronghold of Navi Mumbai… If BJP adopts the ‘Ekla chalo re’ policy for civic polls, then we will put all our might not just in Navi Mumbai, but Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Vasai-Virar also. If my party gives me the responsibility, I am confident of a victory in Thane just like Navi Mumbai,” he said.
The statements instantly stoked reactions from the Sena, which apparently took it as a direct challenge to its leadership. “We have fought the last two polls as Mahayuti and plan to replicate it in the civic polls too. However, if anyone (BJP) wants to fight solo, they are free to decide. We have been fighting against all parties (including BJP) in Thane for the last 25 years and have retained the crown… If they want to hold darbars here, our mantris will also replicate it in Palghar (whose guardianship is with Naik),” Sena’s Thane MP Naresh Mhaske said.
Meanwhile, the apparent friction between leaders of the allies ahead of municipal elections has led political circles to speculate about an impending high-voltage political drama brewing between the allies on the home turf of Shinde.
Some observers claimed that Naik’s statements may not have been random. It is known that Thane was a BJP stronghold for decades until it allowed the Shiv Sena to take over in the late 1990s during the tenure of late Sena leader Anand Dighe. Even as the Shiv Sena started growing its muscle in the district, the local BJP leadership and its workers nursed ambitions to reclaim their turf. The last time these ambitions were put on the backburner yet again was during the Lok Sabha and assembly elections last year.