In Ambernath, Sena deals a blow to BJP after high drama, hotel politics

AMBERNATH: The Shiv Sena made a decisive backdoor entry in the Ambernath Municipal Council after days of intense negotiations, hotel politics and open confrontation with its state- and national-level ally, the BJP.

With the support of four NCP councillors, Shiv Sena's locally formed Mahayuti alliance succeeded in electing its candidate Sadamama Patil as deputy president, delivering a major political setback to the BJP.




To prevent any last-minute defections, Shiv Sena kept its councillors in Thane, while the BJP housed its members at a hotel in Lonavla. On Monday, amid heavy sloganeering and heated exchanges between leaders and workers of both camps inside and outside the council premises, Shiv Sena MLA Shrikant Shinde personally led the Shiv Sena-led alliance to the council for voting. The strategy worked, as all councillors voted in unison, resulting in Sadamama Patil's victory by a margin of four votes.

Sadamama Patil secured 32 votes as the Shiv Sena Mahayuti candidate, while BJP-backed Ambernath Vikas Aghadi nominee Pradeep Patil managed 28 votes. The contest highlighted the sharp rivalry between Shiv Sena and BJP in Ambernath, despite their alliance elsewhere.

Both parties had fought the municipal council elections against each other in the city and were now seen locked in a direct struggle for control of the civic body.

Although the BJP had earlier won the directly elected post of municipal council president, its limited strength of just 15 councillors made it difficult to secure full control of the council. To overcome this, the BJP stitched together the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi by bringing along 12 Congress councillors, four from the NCP faction and one independent.

This unexpected alignment with the Congress led to political embarrassment for both parties. The Congress later suspended its 12 councillors, who subsequently joined the BJP, giving the party confidence that its path to power had been cleared.

Equations changed dramatically after intervention by Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde, son of Dyb CM Eknath Shinde. Acting swiftly, Shinde ensured that the four NCP councillors resigned from the BJP-backed group. Soon after, a new and legally constituted group named Shiv Sena Mahayuti Ambernath was formed, comprising 27 Shiv Sena councillors, four NCP councillors and one independent, taking the alliance's tally to a decisive 32 members.

Sensing the shifting ground, the BJP issued a group whip on Sunday, directing all councillors of its Aghadi-including the four NCP members-to remain present and vote in line during the deputy president election. Sena said that as per rules, councillors are allowed to leave a group within 30 days of its formation.