The recent meeting between state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Chandrakant Patil and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder Raj Thackeray at Nashik has sparked speculation about both joining hands to fight the ensuing BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections together slated for 2022. Former finance minister and veteran BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar, on Monday, said he had received a call from the MNS chief and he will meet him soon.
So far, both the parties have denied an alliance, but informally indicated that they are not averse to tie up in a bid to defeat Shiv Sena, which has been ruling BMC for over 25 years. BJP and Shiv Sena fought the elections held in 2017 separately despite sharing power in the state. Later, BJP pulled out of the Mayoral poll, which paved the way for Shiv Sena to win it comfortably.
A senior BJP leader told the Free Press Journal, “Clearly, on the Hindutva issue, BJP and MNS can come together.”
