Daijiworld Media Network - Thane

Thane, Jan 5: As campaigning heats up for the 29 municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, the Thackeray group and Congress have suffered a major setback in Thane amid a wave of political defections.

Former transport committee chairman and ex-corporator Vijay Katkar, along with his family and hundreds of supporters, joined Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. In a parallel move, Congress minority cell’s district vice-president Salim Qazi also entered the Shinde faction.

The defections come amid dissatisfaction over ticket distribution. Vijay Katkar and his daughter alleged, “There was injustice in ticket allocation. Loyalty has no value; only money matters. Deputy leader Vijay Salvi demanded Rs 1–2 crore for candidacy.”

However, the Thackeray group’s deputy leader Vijay Salvi strongly refuted these allegations. “Claims about money demands are false and made out of malice. All aspirants were consulted before ticket allocation, and tickets were decided collectively by the district chief, city chief, and deputy leader,” he said.

The defections and internal disputes have added to the headaches of the Thackeray group and Congress, especially since 20 candidates from the Maha Vikas Aghadi have already won uncontested after official candidates withdrew their nominations.

Amid the ongoing turmoil, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray is scheduled to address a public rally on January 10 at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The rally, aimed at campaigning for 97 candidates, will be held at the Marathwada Cultural Krida Mandal grounds, with a teaser for the event released by the party’s media team.