Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said that the next mayor of Mumbai will belong to Shiv Sena as his party had emerged at number one position in the municipal elections.
In a brief interaction with media, Thackeray said that there was no need to rush into speculations of possible alliance with the BJP. "I thank the people of Mumbai for making our party number one in the fifth consecutive elections in Mumbai. It is now clear that not just Maharashtrians but other communities too have voted for Shiv Sena. I am still eating sweets distributed after our victory. I suggest you also eat it . I do not want to rush into making any statements," said Thackeray with a smile on his face.
He also felt that the BJP had won in big numbers by using immense resources at its disposal as it was in power in the Centre and in state. "We have won because of sheer efforts of Shiv Sainiks and love of people. There was no wave in our favour and still we have won. On the other hand, they had everything at their disposal. That is why this victory is even more precious," said Uddhav.
He also said that there were a number of seats where Shiv Sena had lost with less than 25 votes and said that his party was carefully studying the results in these wards. "There are seats where we have lost by 15 or 10 odd votes. In one ward the fate has been decided by 'Ishwari Chitthi'. This clearly indicates that the fight was neck to neck and we have won that," he said.
He also expressed confidence that not just next mayor but next chief minister of Maharashtra will also belong to Shiv Sena.
The 'Ishwari Chitthi' that Uddhav Thackeray referred to was an interesting development in which , a chit hand picked by a young boy, termed as 'Ishwari Chitthi' (Chit picked by the hand of God) led to BJP's victory in ward no 220 in Mumbai.
Ward no 220 in South Mumbai saw a neck to neck fight between formal BJP legislator Atul Shah and Shiv Sena's sitting corporator Surendra Bagalkar. At the end of the counting the officials realised that both candidates had polled 5946 votes each. This led to recounting of votes two times again as demanded by both candidates.
The word had spread all over Mumbai and senior leaders of Shiv Sena and BJP including a few ministers from both parties reached the venue of the counting. As the decision could not be reached, BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta too rushed to the spot. After consultation with all concerned it was decided that a young boy should be asked to pick one among two chits which had names of both candidates written on it.
The chit picked by the boy had name of Atul Shah on it. That was how BJP emerged victorious in ward no 220 and took its tally still closer to Shiv Sena. BJP now has 82 seats against Shiv Sena's 84.