In Mumbai, after the Thackeray group, former Congress corporators are also starting to join Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena. Five ex-Congress corporators quit the party on Saturday. These five corporators, who belong to Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad's Dharavi constituency, will be joining the Shinde group.
Over the last year, former corporators from the Thackeray group in Mumbai joined Shinde's Shiv Sena one by one after the split within the Shiv Sena. So far, more than 15 former corporators have quit the Shiv Sena. Shinde's faction has now shifted its focus to reducing the Congress' strength in Mumbai. Five Congress corporators resigned from the party on Saturday.
According to the media reports, these former corporators include Pushpa Koli from Shiv Koliwada, Wajid Qureshi from Chandivali, Bhaskar Shetty, Babbu Khan, and Kunal Mane from Dharavi. All five of them hail from the constituency of Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad. These former corporators stated that they were resigning due to their dissatisfaction with Gaikwad's working style. This development has dealt a blow to the Congress party's preparations for the upcoming elections. Additionally, a former Congress corporator from Andheri, Sushma Rai, has already aligned with the Shinde camp.