With corporators showing signs of leaving if they are denied tickets in the Assembly polls, the party may lose its hold on the BMC

The Shiv Sena clearly is not the party it used to be. The only place where it holds power the BMC may be lost too with party corporators showing signs of rebellion if they are denied tickets to contest the October Assembly polls.

"There is hardly any difference in the number of corporators of ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine and the Opposition in the BMC.

Shiv Sena corporators aspiring to be candidates for the Assembly elections know well that the party cannot take any action against them because if they leave the party, the difference between Sena and the Opposition numbers in the BMC will fall," said a BMC observer.

The Sena has a strength of 114 corporators in the BMC, while the Opposition has 104 corporators.

POLL VAULT: The Shiv Sena's ruling party strength is already down to 111. If some corporators decide to leave, the Sena-BJP may lose their majority in the BMC.

Why the worry?

The first casualty for the Shiv Sena was Kshitija Pujary, the corporator from Kandivli who joined the MNS last week for better prospects.
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"Shashikant Patkar, a Shiv Sena corporator from Vile Parle, also wants to contest, but he does not have much experience.

As does Rahul Shewale, corporator from Trombay. The party is in a fix on what to do, as neither of them are strong candidates," said a party source.

There are rumours that Patkar could leave the party if he's not allowed to contest.

With Pujary leaving the party and two corporators stuck with caste certificate problems, the Sena's ruling party strength is already down to 111.

If some corporators decide to leave, the Shiv Sena-BJP may lose their majority in the BMC.

This situation may affect the Mayor's election too. "It will be held in two months and the fewer numbers of the Shiv Sena will definitely affect the election," added the source.

The Other Side

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut refused to comment on this issue. Corporators Shashikant Patkar and Rahul Shewale refused to speak on the subject.

In Numbers

As per the electoral understanding reached between the two NDA partners, the Shiv Sena will contest 169 seats and the BJP 119 in the 288-member state Assembly.
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In its first list of candidates, the Sena retained 37 sitting MLAs and put up 60 new faces.

In 2007