‘BJP kept alliance with Sena in BMC in past only for Hindutva’

MUMBAI: The BJP continued its alliance with the Shiv Sena in the BMC in the past only for the cause of Hindutva, said BJP election in-charge Ashish Shelar. In an exclusive interview to TOI on Thursday, Shelar said the party will accept the court’s orders on the election of 69 unopposed corporators. “If the court directs that elections be held, we will abide by it,” he said.The BJP has accused the Shiv Sena (UBT) of corruption to the tune of Rs 3 lakh crore in the 25 years that it was in power in the Mumbai civic body. During this period, the BJP was in alliance with the Sena in the BMC. Washing its hands of all the corruption, Shelar said that BJP corporators did not hold any important post in the various statutory committees of the municipal corporation. He claimed that on several occasions, they opposed decisions that were not in the public interest. Asked why the BJP corporators did not pull out of the alliance if they were serious about addressing corruption issues, Shelar said, “It was only for Hindutva.” The Marathi-non-Marathi controversy is the handiwork of those who see defeat, he said. “We declared that the mayor of Mumbai will be a Hindu-Marathi, whereas they did not even mention Hindutva in their manifesto,” Shelar said.Defending his party’s campaign highlighting the city’s security, he said, “Mumbai’s security is a very big issue, and our city president pointed this out. There is a conspiracy to change the city’s demography, and we will not allow this. Action on Bangladeshis and Rohingyas is not wrong,” he said.The BJP, he said, always fought elections on the issue of development. “Our entire focus is on Mumbai’s development… roads, footpath, security.... In the last 25 years, no work happened with which Mumbaikar is happy. There is a lot to be done and after we come to power, we will work on it in a planned manner,” he said.One of the first tasks that the party will undertake is setting up of a Water Management Authority, a restoration authority based on the study carried out by NITI Aayog, he said. Shelar said that the authority would identify leakages in existing water lines, look at rainwater harvesting, work to improve groundwater level and the distribution system, study the setting up of desalination plants, and look into wastewater treatment, among other things.The Tree Authority would be reorganised so that it takes a holistic view and does not just approve tree cutting, he said.Shelar said the BJP would provide corruption-free good governance for the next 5 years if it assumed office in the BMC.