Daggers out as MNS alleges Rs1cr-per-vote in Chandrapur

Nagpur: Barely a month after Raj and Uddhav Thackeray joined hands for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, their party leaders were gunning for each other over Sena (UBT)'s support to BJP in the Chandrapur mayoral contest that helped the saffron party win by one vote.Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Sandeep Deshpande alleged each UBT corporator in Chandrapur was clandestinely paid Rs 1 crore for their votes, while Sena-UBT's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said all six party corporators have been summoned to Matoshree, adding "we will never commit the sin of helping BJP".
On Tuesday, BJP secured the Chandrapur mayor's post with backing of all six Sena-UBT corporators, after the latter's talks with Congress collapsed. Speaking in Mumbai, Deshpande said, "As per my information, Rs 1 crore was given to each UBT corporator, and Rs 50 lakh to Independents. Did this happen without the knowledge of Matoshree? Raut must answer if he too was kept in the dark."Raut, however, denied that party corporators helped BJP. Raut said, "BJP split Balasaheb Thackeray's party and stole our party symbol. We do not support thieves, nor would we bring them to power anywhere. These were clear instructions."So how did BJP clinch the mayor's seat? Were those corporators acting on their own? Who was giving orders to Chandrapur corporators? Replying to a barrage of questions, Raut said, "I believe the six corporators have been summoned (to Matoshree). They will be here in two or three days. As far as orders are concerned, only Uddhav Ji gives orders in our party. Even I work according to his instructions."Chandrapur's UBT Sena chief Sandeep Girhe refused to comment on Raut's remark. Girhe, however, took on MNS' Deshpande over cash-for-vote allegations. "He should prove these allegations and if true, all UBT corporators will resign. If we wanted money from BJP, we wouldn't have waited in the Congress office till midnight on poll eve to hammer out a consensus. If we took Rs 1 crore each, the deal would have been done in a luxury hotel, but everyone knows we were fighting for self-respect on the street."Sena-UBT blamed Congress for the current political situation in Chandrapur, saying it was due to the feud between MLA Vijay Wadettiwar and Lok Sabha MP Pratibha Dhanorkar, that negotiations faltered. Raut said, "Those two factions did not even register as a single group, so with whom should we discuss?". While Wadettiwar met Uddhav and offered a 50:50 tenure sharing for mayor's post, the deal could not be sealed as both Congress factions fought over who would nominate the mayor candidate.