In Thane, rift between BJP and Shinde-led BSS widens

Mumbai: Recent complaints by two BJP MLAs—Sanjay Kelkar from Thane and Mihir Kotecha from Mulund—on the projects being pushed by CM Eknath Shinde have raised eyebrows in political circles and are being seen as an indication that not everything is hunky-dory in the BJP-BSS alliance.

Kelkar recently met Thane municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar with a complaint alleging irregularities in works taken up by the Thane municipal corporation (TMC). His act created a flutter, as Thane is the home turf of Shinde who was in complete control of the TMC before its term came to an end last March. Even now, the civic body is run by the municipal commissioner who reports to the urban development department headed by Shinde.

Kelkar’s complaint is not the first case of a rift between the two parties in Thane. In December, a BJP worker Prashant Jadhav was beaten up by BSS local leaders over a dispute. A few months earlier, deceased Thane leader Sudhakar Chavan’s wife was to join the BJP at a function attended by the unit president Chandrashekhar Bawankule. The function was cancelled after a call from Shinde.

“The BJP and Shinde faction have a strange love-hate relationship in Thane,” said a Thane BJP leader. “After the split in the alliance in 2019 and the formation of the MVA government, bitterness crept into the relationship. BJP members in Thane started to work aggressively to expand the party and locked horns with Shinde. The situation changed after the BJP-BSS formed the government but now, the BJP has no option but to play second fiddle to Shinde as CM. This has caused the rift in Thane.”

Kelkar, when questioned, said that he and his party were merely working in the interests of citizens. “I have written two letters to the TMC chief complaining about irregularities,” he said. “We have a right to know how money is utilised. Hundreds of crores are coming in but we don’t even have toilets in parts of the city.”

In another incident, BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha wrote to BMC Commissioner I S Chahal, alleging financial irregularities in the ₹263-crore tender floated for Shinde’s Mumbai beautification project and objected to the work being done through the Central Purchase Department (CPD). “Why is the CPD spending ₹263 crore on street furniture? Where will so much furniture be installed? Buying furniture at these prices is bizarre and smells like a mega scam,” said Kotecha in his letter. “Also, these works are not in the purview of the CPD, whose main objective is to buy medical equipment and medicines for the health department.”

Kotecha said his complaint was not politically motivated. “My letter was not against Shinde’s project, but to draw the attention of the administration to the lapses in this particular project,” he insisted. Vishwas Pathak, joint chief spokesperson of the BJP, and BSS spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre echoed Kotecha’s words. “Elected representatives of the BJP work as watchdogs, and raise their voice against irregularities in the interests of the people,” said Pathak. “We should view the complaints of the two MLAs as an attempt to correct lapses in governance, not as politically motivated acts against the Shinde faction.”

Rifts between BSS and BJP

· Sillod BJP workers protested against local MLA Abdul Sattar for the increase in tax by the Sillod municipal council.

· BJP activist Prashant Jadhav was beaten by a local BSS leader over a poster dispute.

· Wife of the late Sudhakar Chavan was to join the BJP at a function. But it was cancelled after a call from Shinde.

· BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar submitted two letters to the TMC commissioner complaining about irregularities in works and illegal construction.