Shinde Sena Boycotts
Lokmat News Network
Chhatraptai Sambhajinagar: Shinde Sena leader and former minister MLA Abdul Sattar alleged on Wednesday that the Zilla Parishad (ZP) president and vice-president election involved a quiet but deliberate betrayal. He claimed that State-level discussions had settled the ZP president's post for Shinde Sena, but the BJP failed to honour its word — prompting the boycott.
Speaking at a press conference at Hotel Grand Sarovar on the Solapur-Dhule Highway, Sattar said, "Politics is a game of one's word, but here the word itself was broken. This is the first betrayal of my political career. Until the last moment, we were acting on our senior leaders' instructions, trusting the commitment made. Since the BJP did not keep its promise, we boycotted the election process. But Shinde Sena is a fighting party — once an arrow leaves our bow, it finds its mark. The repercussions of this election will be felt across the state. Our senior leaders will decide the next course of action."
MLA Vilas Bhumre also expressed displeasure, stating that a meeting between the two parties had made a written agreement covering not just the president and vice-president posts, but also committees allocations. The party holding the resident's post was to receive the Education, Women and Child Welfare, or Social Justice committees; the vice-president's party was to get Public Works, Women and Child Development, or Social Justice committees. It had also been settled that the Municipal Corporation would go to the BJP while the ZP would go to the Shinde faction, an agreement that was ultimately not honoured.
BJP's capture of both ZP posts has fuelled resentment within Shinde Sena and brought alliance tensions into the open.
Deputy Mayor Rajendra Janjal, along with Shinde Sena's ZP members and office-bearers, were present at the press conference.