Bhayandar: Less than two years after it criticised the Shiv-Sena with the ‘money & muni’ remark for raking up communal undertones and accusing them of taking the help of a Jain monk to win the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) elections in 2017, the Shiv-Sena which is contesting the Thane (25) Lok Sabha constituency is left with no other option but to bank on votes of the very same community because of its sizeable presence in the twin-city. The BJP had swept the MBMC polls by winning 61 out of the 95 seats in August-2017. The Sena which remained a distant second with 22 seats had to occupy the opposition benches in the MBMC.
While both the saffron parties had contested independently, Sena had not only raised the issue with the Election Commission (EC) but had also threatened to knock the judicial doors seeking action against the BJP for polarizing the electorate on community lines. The bickering allies, however, brokered peace and managed to stitch an alliance on the eve of the LS polls. The Mira-Bhayandar (145) and parts of Ovala-Majiwada assembly segments which fall under the Thane LS constituency has a sizeable section of the voters who hail from the Jain (Gujarati and Marwadi) community. Shiv Sena’s sitting MP Rajan Vichare is locked in a straight battle with NCP’s Anand Paranjpe. It will be interesting to see whether or not the Jain community responds positively to Sena’s -Michhami Dukkadam(forgive and forget).
