Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said if the BJP wished to pursue its own way, then the Sena was also free to find its path.

The animosity between alliance partners the Shiv Sena and the BJP does not seem to end a day after the closely fought Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) results.
Replying to BJP state unit chief Raosaheb Danve’s comment, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said if the BJP wished to pursue its own way, then the Sena was also free to find its path.
“Since he has said that the BJP will have its own mayor at KDMC, it means that they do not require us. If they are free to walk their own path, then we too are capable of deciding our own. We will decide on our own,” he said, after meeting his party MLAs at the party headquarters in Dadar at Central Mumbai.
Earlier on Tuesday, an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna took a diplomatic position asking the BJP to forget the acrimonious election campaign.
“It was a high pitch campaign in KDMC. Each party tried to disturb the other, but the Sena’s base is as intact as it was before. We politely accept the people’s mandate. Things said in election campaign are not stagnant. Whatever happened has passed now. We stand for the development of KDMC,” said the editorial.
It was referring to the fiery speeches of Mr. Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis which marked the last day of election campaign. The Sena chief had threatened to walk out of alliance, while the BJP leader had dared him saying his party activists would give a fitting response.
However, the Sena has not revealed its strategy to obtain majority in the KDMC as it still requires nine more seats. Party sources said that it is unlikely to approach estranged cousin Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which has won nine seats, for the majority. It may have to rope in independents to reach the magic figure of 61 in the 122 seat civic corporation. On Monday night, the party moved all its newly elected corporators to a secret place to ensure no sabotage.
However, the Sena’s stand of offering an olive branch to the BJP went in vain by Tuesday evening after its MLAs targeted the BJP-led State government in the meeting with party chief.
Sena MLAs complained to Mr. Thackeray that they are being sidelined despite being in the government. The Sena chief will also be leading a delegation to meet CM before the coming winter session of the state assembly to resolve issues of MLAs.
Earlier, State BJP chief Raosaheb Danve expressed satisfaction with the party’s performance in Kalyan Dombivli and Kolhapur civic polls and elections to 59 municipal councils.
“The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in municipal council polls, and there is great enthusiasm about the mandate among party workers. We are open to all options. We will make all out attempts to install our Mayor in KDMC and Kolhapur and our president in as many municipal councils as possible,” Mr Danve said.