BJP must get Mumbai mayor post as it is largest party, says Union minister Athawale

Ahmedabad, Jan 19 (PTI) Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said the BJP should get the mayor's post in Mumbai since it emerged as the largest party in the civic polls in the metropolis.

In an alliance of multiple parties, there is general understanding that the mayor's post is usually given to the party which wins maximum number of seats, the Republican Party of India (A) president said.

While BJP has won 89 seats (in the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation), 29 seats were bagged by Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment said at a press conference here.

"It is also a fact that without Shiv Sena's support, BJP can't appoint its mayor. I am confident Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Shinde would sort out the issue after discussions," he said.

The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, citing the 24 seats won by the Congress in the BMC polls, said the party has no future under Rahul Gandhi.

"Congress is not in the picture after the elections. The party has no future under Rahul Gandhi. Congress will never get a chance to come back to power till NDA is there," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a noble man and all sections of the society, including Muslims, have benefited from his schemes, Athawale asserted.

Speculation related to the mayoral post in Mumbai intensified after Shinde shifted his 29 corporators-elect to a hotel. There is also talk that Shinde is keen to secure the BMC mayor’s post for his party — at least for the first two-and-a-half years — since it is the birth centenary year of party founder late Bal Thackeray.

In polls held on January 15, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) won 65 seats in Mumbai, while its ally Maharashtra Navnirman Sena emerged victorious on six. PTI PJT PD BNM