Mumbai: Former Corporator of Shiv Sena (UBT) Upendra Sawant joined Shiv Sena in the presence of CM Eknath Shinde on Wednesday. Sawant is a former Corporator of the Vikhroli Kannamwar Nagar area of Mumbai and was close to Sanjay Raut and his brother Sunil Raut.
Visuals surfaced on the internet show CM Eknath Shinde welcoming the former corporator and greeting him to work with him. Sawant was also accompanied by his followers during the event. However, the reason behind Sawant's exit is not known yet.
Sawant's exit from Shiv Sena (UBT) comes days after five former Congress corporators from Dharavi joined Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on August 26.
After the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Shinde camp has now started making inroads in Congress’s bastions in the city. Following the break up from the Thackerays last year in June, the Shinde camp has inducted as many 15 ex-corporators from the Shiv Sena (UBT) to its fold until now. This is the first instance when they have inducted a group of former Congress corporators.
The five former corporators resigned from the party membership on Saturday. The majority of them belong to the Dharavi assembly segment, which is the home turf of Mumbai Regional Congress President Varsha Gaikwad.
Possible Reason For Joining Shinde Camp
The former corporators who resigned from the party are Pushpa Koli from Sion Koliwada, Bhaskar Shetti, Babbu Khan and Kunal Mane from Dharavi and Vajid Kurashi from Chandivali. They have blamed Gaikawad's “autocratic style” of working for their decision to join Shinde camp.
Another former corporator of Congress from Andheri Sushama Rai, had earlier joined the Shinde camp. This latest defection from the Congress party is seen as a blow to its unit in the city. The Shinde camp is likely to induct more former corporators before the municipal elections to be in a good bargaining position with the BJP and NCP.
