Khaire takes swipes at Ambadas Danve after Sena (UBT) faces rout in Sambhajinagar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jan 17 (PTI) A day after the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s dismal performance in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar municipal corporation elections, veteran leader Chandrakant Khaire targeted party colleague Ambadas Danve, accusing him of not responding to calls by party workers amid a spate of defections.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party contested 97 out of 115 wards in the city but won only six.

"It is really painful because the municipal corporation where we had the upper hand till now was lost. There are several reasons for this. Our people were joining other parties till the last moment, which created a manpower crunch. There were two financially strong parties against us. We bagged just six seats despite working honestly," said Khaire, a former Sena MP.

"I am not aware where Ambadas Danve was for the last 4-5 days. He did not meet people and also did not answer calls from me, other leaders and candidates. This means he did not plan seriously for the elections. He worked alone and did not let us do any work," claimed Khaire.

Danve's reaction was not available immediately.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde were financially strong, Khaire noted.

He also blamed the induction of former Mayor Rashid Mamu in the party for the results, saying that he never favoured it.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won 57 seats while All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) emerged as the second largest party by winning 33 seats as the results of the January 15 elections were declared on Friday. PTI AW KRK