Mumbai (The Hindu): A day after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the controversial open space policy passed by the BMC, the newly appointed Maharashtra unit chief of the BJP on Monday said his party’s flag will fly high on the civic body after February, 2017 elections.

In an apparent challenge to the dominance of the Sena in Mumbai, Raosaheb Danve said he would prefer not to comment on whether his party will ally with the Sena or not for the civic election. “While poll strategy will be decided once the elections are announced, I am sure of one thing: the BJP flag will fly high on the BMC,” he said, indicating that the BJP may choose to contest the polls independently.

Mr Danve, who was unanimously reappointed as the State unit chief of the BJP on Monday, clarified that his party continues to share cordial relations with the Sena and the alliance government will complete its period of five years successfully.

His remarks come at a time when Sena-BJP relations have strained again after Mr Thackeray’s stern words supporting the open space policy. The BJP, which had initially supported the policy, took a U-turn and appealed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to review it, which he has agreed for.

However, when asked about 2017 BMC elections, the BJP leader did not confirm his party’s alliance with the Sena. “We will decide at the appropriate time,” he said. Currently, the Sena is the largest party in the BMC and shares power with the BJP. Confident after their party’s victories in the Lok Sabha and State assembly elections, BJP leaders are considering contesting civic elections alone.

Interestingly, both the parties had chosen to contest independently in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation but joined hands after the results to grab power. The pattern is likely to continue in Mumbai as well.

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