Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said that if Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda is sure of having the next Mumbai mayor from his party, then he should make a pitch for holding the civic elections immediately.
On the first day of his two-day visit to Maharashtra, Nadda on Wednesday called for collective efforts by the BJP to ensure that the next mayor of Mumbai is from the party. He made the statement while addressing party functionaries at a meeting in Mumbai.
Nadda must know that in order to have a mayor, they must first contest BMC elections which the state government led by his party is avoiding because an internal survey of the Maharashtra BJP shows that if elections are held now they will lose, he said.
Besides, having the Eknath Shinde group on board has not gained them any voters. In fact, they (BJP) know that they have lost credibility by aligning with them (Shinde group) after it orchestrated a coup, he said.
It appears that either the local BJP Mumbai unit has not appraised Nadda of the prevailing unacceptably of the party among the voters in Mumbai and Maharashtra or that he is aware and therefore trying to create a perception that everything is alright and they are sure of winning, Crasto added.