Sena comes to MNS aid in Nashik Municipal Corporation

In what is believed by many to be a precursor to a new political alliance emerging in the state,the Shiv Sena on Saturday helped the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to get an MNS member elected as Standing Committee chairman of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC),where Raj Thackerays MNS is in power in a tie-up with traditional Shiv Sena ally BJP.

In what is believed by many to be a precursor to a new political alliance emerging in the state,the Shiv Sena on Saturday helped the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to get an MNS member elected as Standing Committee chairman of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC),where Raj Thackerays MNS is in power in a tie-up with traditional Shiv Sena ally BJP.

It was a U-turn from what was seen last year,when the Shiv Sena had thwarted the move of the MNS to capture the important post of Standing Committee chairman,by backing a Congress member who won the post.

On Saturday Shiv Sena,MNS,BJP and the RPI joined hands to keep the Congress-NCP candidate from heading the 16-member Standing Committee that holds the financial purse strings of the corporation.

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MNS candidate Ramesh Dhoongade bagged 10 votes against six polled by her opponent Shaban Pathan of the Shahahr Vikas Aghadi.

The directive to support the MNS candidate came from Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray who held a meeting with Sena corporators from Nashik at Matoshree in Mumbai,on Thursday.

In the 122-seat NMC,MNS has 40 corporators,followed by NCP with 20,Shiv Sena with 19,Congress with 15 and BJP trailing with 14. In 2012,MNS was looking forward to controlling the Standing Committee but the Sena had chosen to back the Congress candidate.

We supported MNS on instructions of Uddhav. Our support is based on issues of development and we hope the MNS stands true to what it has been promising so far, Shiv Sena Nashik unit President Vijay Karnjikar said.

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This is the first time after the death of Bal Thackeray late last year that the Shiv Sena has come out in support of MNS.

There has been increasing speculation of a tie-up between the Shiv Sena,BJP,MNS and RPI to put up a united front in the 2014 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections against Congress-NCP.

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