Mumbai: Despite reservations within the BJP, the 12 councillors in Ambernath suspended by Congress for “anti-party activities” joined the party on Thursday. State BJP chief Ravindra Chavan received the 12 councillors on Thursday at a function, raising questions not only from the opposition but also from within his own outfit.The councillors were suspended on Wednesday by Congress for forming an alliance with BJP in the Ambernath municipal council. The optics of political adversaries forging an opportunistic local body coalition had left the the leadership in both parties flustered in their bid to explain the situation. Congress and BJP councillors had formed a bloc named the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi to hold the majority vote in the council and keep the Shinde-led Shiv Sena out of decision-making.
A day later, amidst the hurried induction of the suspended Congressmen, BJP minister Ashish Shelar said the issue would be discussed intensively within the party. He said his personal opinion was that “the Congress councillors should not have been brought into the party.”Speaking to TOI, Shelar said, “Some people made a mistake, and they have to face action for it.” He added that “the issue will be discussed in the party intensively.” Shelar said aligning with the members of an ideologically opposed outfit was not advisable. He also expressed opposition to the party’s alliance with AIMIM at Akot.Shelar said the move to induct the councillors in Ambernath was taken in a hurry. Without naming the state BJP chief, he said it was a wrong decision by the party leader, and added that if something was wrong, there was no harm in accepting it as soon as possible.The Ambernath council election was held last month. The council president was directly elected by voters and was from the BJP. The Congress-BJP post-poll alliance exercise concerned remaining posts, including vice-president, standing committee chairman, and the heads of other committees, which would go to the bloc that commanded a majority in the House.In Ambernath, BJP has 14 councillors, Congress 12 (who now stand suspended), NCP four, and two independents, while deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 27 councillors was the single largest party, 4 short of the majority mark in the 60-member House.Shinde’s son, Shrikant Shinde, is an MP from the Kalyan parliamentary constituency, which also includes the Dombivli and Ambernath areas, and the BJP and Shiv Sena were at loggerheads in the constituency for a long time. Ravindra Chavan is an MLA from Dombivli, which is in the same region.
