‘It’s my duty to care for their political future’: MNS’s Raju Patil defends corporators’ support for Shinde Sena in Kalyan-Dombivli

Patil further said that Thackeray had been informed of the decision in advance.

Without naming anyone, Patil also launched an attack on Maharashtra BJP President Ravindra Chavan. “Everyone gets opportunities in politics. But if someone claims to be a friend while poaching city presidents, district presidents, and women’s wing heads, if a party is constantly working to break my party, I am not so naive that I wouldn’t recognise it. A generous enemy is better than a deceitful friend,” he said.

“The support was extended to protect my corporators from getting poached elsewhere,” he admitted.

The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation being Chavan’s home turf, a number of local leaders from the MNS and the Shiv Sena (UBT) had joined the BJP, significantly undermining the Opposition.

Speculation has been rife in political circles after MNS corporators backed Shinde’s Shiv Sena following the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation elections.

During an event marking the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray at Shanmukhananda Hall, Raj Thackeray expressed intense anger over the political situation in the state, including in Kalyan-Dombivli.

“Today, a market of slaves has opened in the country and in Maharashtra. Looking at this market in Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, and elsewhere is truly nauseating. Seeing all this, I feel it’s for the best that Balasaheb is not here. How distressed would he have been to see this?” he remarked on Saturday.