Mumbai (The Hindu): BJP chief accuses Sena of trying to keep realty prices high.The State’s ruling alliance partners — the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena — may be fighting the civic polls together, but that has not stopped them from bickering amongst themselves.

On Thursday, the city BJP chief Ashish Shelar accused the Shiv Sena of collaborating to keep realty prices high in the city by not supporting sanction of redevelopment of old buildings in 236 plots.

The proposal to redevelop 236 leased plots in Mumbai that had been given on lease, and was cleared by the improvements committee. However, it was shot down at a meeting of the city corporation body. Mr. Shelar accused the Shiv Sena of using its strength in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to deliberately oppose the lease policy with a motive to keep realty prices high in city.

He said, “Had redevelopment been taken up in these 236 plots, more buildings would have come up and brought down realty rates in city. This would also have benefited the Marathi community, which comprises 80 per cent of the people living in these leased properties. The corporation also loses out on recovering money from taxes on ready reckoner rates from these plots. The BJP is working for the development of the city.”

The Shiv Sena has 75 corporators while the BJP has 35 corporators in Mumbai’s corporation, thus giving the Sena the upper hand in the Mumbai’s civic affairs. He said he was not criticising any other party but just voicing his party’s views on the issue. He also said that he would continue to work to strengthen his party.

Shelar was speaking at a function to release the report of works done by Prakash Gangadhare, chairperson of the civic improvement committee. Mr. Gangadhare has listed going ahead with city projects like Metro-3, privatising a few health services, handing over gardens to private parties as caretakers, redeveloping old chawls in Byculla, developing city markets and acting against errant private hospitals.

The BJP has been trying to under play the Shiv Sena’s contribution in the city’s development as part of its poll strategy in the run-up to the forthcoming polls.