After 66 corporators of Shiv Sena from Thane joined Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s camp, around 30 former Shiv Sena corporators from Navi Mumbai are likely to join his camp. Shiv Sena corporators led by Vijay Chaugule, the former leader of the opposition at Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) are meeting with CM Shinde in Mumbai on Thursday night.
From the last week, the Shinde camp and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray camp of Shinde were putting banners across the city to show solidarity with their respective leaders. While the supporters of Thackeray removed chief minister Shinde’s photo from banners, the Shinde group welcomed the newly elected chief minister.
According to sources, Chougule, former leader of the opposition at NMMC was in constant touch with Shinde’s camp since the political developments started taking place in the state.
Apart from Chougule, as per the party sources, Suresh Kulkarni from Turbhe, Kishore Patkar from Vashi, and Shivram Patil from Koparkhairane among others are believed to join the Shinde camp. The majority of those joining Shinde’s camp are from the Airoli constituency. However, the majority of supporters from Vashi have shown their solidarity with Thackeray. Vitthal More, Jitendra Kamble, Dilip Ghodekar and Sameer Bagwan have remained with Thackeray.
In the 2015 NMMC election, 38 corporators from Shiv Sena were elected which was around 22 more than the previous terms. However, the majority of them are believed to be joining Shinde’s camp.
Former NMMC chief Vijay Nahata and chairman of Environment Authority is also believed to join Shinde’s camp.
