The joint panel of the two parties suffered a complete defeat in the polls earlier this week. The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) operates as the transport and power supply arm of the BMC
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam. File Pic
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Friday said that the outcome of the BEST Employees’ Credit Society election proved that the alliance between Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS carried no impact.
The joint panel of the two parties suffered a complete defeat in the polls earlier this week. The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) operates as the transport and power supply arm of the BMC.
"The election has shown that even if the Thackeray brothers, who have abandoned Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology for power and who frequently change their stand, come together, it will not make any difference to Mumbai's politics," Nirupam stated, reported news agency PTI.
The two parties tried to create a Marathi Vs Hindi divide for votes, he alleged.
"They had also claimed that the 'Thackeray brand' would guarantee their victory. But these claims fell flat, as they could not win even a single seat out of 21. With 83 per cent voter turnout, 12,000 BEST voters rejected the Thackeray brothers," Nirupam said.
"There is only one brand in Mumbai, that of Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray," he asserted, reported news agency PTI.
In the minds of Marathi people in Mumbai, after Bal Thackeray, it is Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who has the rightful place, Nirupam said, calling Shinde the "true inheritor of Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology."
Mumbai is an inclusive city and anyone who tries to create a linguistic divide here will be decisively rejected, as the BEST election has shown, he further said.
"The MLAs and MPs of Sena (UBT) were elected on Muslim votes. That is why Marathi voters have distanced themselves from them," Nirupam claimed, as per the newsy agency PTI.
Suhas Samant resigns as BEST Kamgar Sena chief after poll defeat
Suhas Samant, president of the BEST Kamgar Sena, resigned on Friday, accepting moral responsibility for the defeat of the Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS joint panel in the employees' credit society election.
Samant, who led the Sena (UBT)-affiliated union for nearly 25 years, stepped down a day after party leader Aaditya Thackeray admitted there were shortcomings in the election planning and indicated an internal reshuffle was likely.
"I have resigned, taking moral responsibility of the defeat. The entire committee of 14 members, too, has resigned," said Samant, who is one of the deputy leaders in the Shiv Sena (UBT), reported news agency PTI.
(With PTI inputs)
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