Mumbai: Shinde Sena takes assembly office amid uneasy calm in BMC

Additional police personnel were deployed at BMC headquarters on Monday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

After taking over the party office in the Vidhan Bhavan on Monday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's ECI-approved Shiv Sena has set its sights on the party office in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters. The officially recognised party will request civic chief and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal to hand over the keys to the party office in the next two to three days.

Uddhav Thackeray groups outside Shiv Sena office at BMC headquarters on Monday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

The office in the BMC headquarters has been locked since December 29, when tensions rose between the two factions, who arrived to stake claim on the premises. Senior civic officials decided that since the terms of the elected representatives had run out, there was no immediate need for either faction to access the party office. On Monday, police presence was increased again in and around the BMC headquarters.

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"The election commission recognises our party as the Shiv Sena," said Shinde loyalist Shital Mhatre. "The party office located in the BMC headquarters belongs to the Shiv Sena, which means us. We will give a letter chief Chahal asking him to open the party office."

Uddhav Thackeray arrives at the Shiv Sena Bhavan on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Thackeray side surprised

Meanwhile, former corporators belonging to the Thackeray faction visited the party office in the BMC headquarters on Monday. "We have been coming to the office every week," said former mayor and Thackeray loyalist Snehal Ambekar. "When we reached this morning, we were surprised to see the police presence outside."

‘Discussed with Speaker'

At the Vidhan Bhavan on Monday, the ECI-recognised Shiv Sena took control of the party office that was allotted to the Thackeray faction last year. The MLAs walked into the Bhavan and proceeded to the office. One of the MLAs said they had discussed the matter with Speaker Rahul Narvekar before staking their claim to the office.