BMC elections 2017: SS should not depend on Congress, RSS leaders feel

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that an alliance with the Shiv Sena to rule the BMC would be possible if the state party stopped criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sources in the RSS tell OneIndia that they too are in favour of the alliance to rule the BMC.

There are many in the RSS who feel that the SS should not be taking the support of the Congress or the NCP. The people's mandate was not for the NCP or the Congress and hence any alliance with these parties would defeat the purpose.

Both parties are not in any position to rule the BMC without an alliance. In the 227 member BMC, the magic number is 114. The BJP and the SS have 82 and 84 respectively. The next biggest party is the Congress which bagged just 31 seats.

While the BJP has said that an alliance would be possible, the SS has not made any commitment as yet. Some reports even suggested that the Congress was willing to extend support to the SS. If the Congress extends support to the SS then the number would be 115 which is one above the magic mark.

BJP sources say that if they decide to go in for the alliance then are certain modalities that would need to be sorted out. Earlier it was said that the BJP would let go of the Mayor's post. However the BJP insisted that the post of the standing committee chairman would be with it. The other possibility would be the rotation policy of 2.5 years, BJP sources also said.

OneIndia News