Rebel corporator Shubha Raul confused over which party she belongs to

Former Mayor Shubha Raul is in a strange position As a Shiv Sena corporator she openly rebelled against her party and contested on an MNS ticket in the state Assembly elections against Shiv Senarsquos candidate Now that she has lost the elections she literally doesnrsquot know which party she belongs toShubha Raul says she doesnrsquot know which party to support or oppose and that she will go to the BMC only when things clear up in her mindRaul corporator from RNorth ward Dahisar contested against Shiv Senarsquos Vinod Ghosalkar in Dahisar constituency Both candidates lost to BJPrsquos Manisha Chaudhury who received 77238 votes Now that the elections are over Raul is uncertain which camp she belongs toShe has not officially become a member of the MNS a party which managed just one seat in the assembly this time and that too by importing a rebel from the Sena However neither has her party Shiv Sena shown her the door since they do not want to lose a seat in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMCThe Shiv SenaBJP coalition is the ruling party in the BMC If the talks over the alliance in the state assembly with the BJP do not fructify the BJP may pull its support from the corporation a situation the Sena does not wantMoreover Raul is a member of the BMCrsquos Improvement and Health Committee from the Sena and the party would not want to lose a seat in these important committees given the BJPrsquos victory in the state assembly and its imminent attempt to replicate it in the municipal elections of 2017 Hence it has not cast out its rebel exmayorRaul doesnrsquot know which office to go to work to Sena or MNS and is avoiding a faceoff with her party colleagues Sources said senior Sena leaders are upset Raul didnrsquot stick with the partyIn the past too there have been such switches by corporators Jyotsna Dighe started off in the BMC as a Shiv Sena corporator and jumped ship to the Congress midway During her tenure she sat in the ruling and supported the oppositionShe is currently a Congress corporator If sources are to be believed Raul may follow this example When asked these questions the former mayor confessed she doesnrsquot know which party she was in and which Thackeray brother to seek advice from but maintained her stand of contesting against Vinod GhosalkarldquoI donrsquot know which party I will support or oppose I am not yet a registered member of the MNS I am confused over whom to discuss this with However I stand by my decision of contesting against Ghosalkar be it as an independent or the Sena I am happy that he lost I shall be okay if the party debars me from the corporationrdquoShe added ldquoI am currently focussing on my family whom I have neglected over the past few months I will go to the BMC only when I am clearheaded and sure of what I want to dordquo midday spoke to an officer from the Municipal Secretary department who explained ldquoUnless the corporator resigns she still is a corporator of the same political partyEven if the party expels her she shall continue to remain so To continue majority in the corporation a party never debars their corporator in such cases but only gives warnings at the most for opposing the party and not attending meetingsrdquo