30 January,2017 06:25 AM IST | | Laxman Singh
As civic body elections approach, Devendra Amberkar is the eighth leader to leave the grand-old party in the last six months over poll ticket issue
Former leader of Opposition in the BMC Devendra Amberkar with Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray after joining the party
In a major setback to the already beleaguered Congress, former leader of Opposition in the BMC and sitting corporator from Amboli, Andheri, Devendra Amberkar joined the Shiv Sena yesterday. A two-time corporator (2007-17), Amberkar accused city party president Sanjay Nirupam of sidelining him and not giving him a ticket to contest from his area.
Amberkar, known to be a close aide of senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat, was leader of Opposition in the BMC for two years from October 2013. In March 2015, he was replaced by four-time corporator Pravin Chheda.
From the horse's mouth
According to party sources, Amberkar wanted to contest from SVP Nagar-Model Town in Andheri (West), but the Congress gave him the option of either Goregaon or Malad. An unhappy Amberkar told mid-day, "I have done work in Andheri for the last 10 years. It is an injustice to ask me to contest from anywhere else. After Nirupam took over as the Mumbai president, he started sidelining me. His decision will finish the party in the city."
"After the Sena gave me a confirmation that it would give me a ticket to contest from ward 68 (Four bungalows, Model Town Nagar), I decided to join the party. Congress is in a big mess; no one knows what is happening in the party at such a crucial time as the BMC elections," he added.
In doldrums
Last week, a four-time corporator in the BMC, and one of the seniormost, Waqarunissa Ansari, had quit the party after not getting a ticket to contest from her area, and the same being given to the daughter of Congress leader Gyanraj Nikam. Ansari has joined the AIMIM.
"I have worked so hard in Mohammad Ali area for the last 20 years. But the party asked me to contest from Dharavi, where I don't have any voter base. Hence, I decided to quit," she said.
Till now, seven sitting corporators and one former corporator from the Congress have quit the party and joined either the Sena or the BJP.
According to sources, corporator from Gilbert Hill area in Andheri Mohsin Haider is also unhappy, as the party is not ready to give a ticket to his wife.
Party sources said Congress would release its first list of candidates from South Mumbai today. Also, a senior party leader said, former union minister Shashi Tharoor is visiting the city, and he along with Nirupam would release a "chargesheet" against Sena-BJP's last 15 years in the BMC.
