'BJP Loses Wherever He Goes': Sanjay Raut On JP Nadda's Visit To Mumbai

BJP chief JP Nadda, who is on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, on Wednesday, appealed to the party cadres to ensure that the next mayor of Mumbai is from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

New Delhi: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday attacked Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda ahead of his visit to Mumbai and claimed that wherever he goes, the BJP loses. 

"Nadda stayed put in Karnataka to campaign for his party, but it was defeated. Now he is coming to Maharashtra. We welcome him... Wherever he goes, BJP loses," Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut told reporters in Nashik.

BJP MLA Nitesh Rane, however, hit back at Raut and accused him of targeting individuals on constitutional posts and inciting the administration against the government.

"All these are signs of an urban Naxal," Rane said.

The BJP chief is on a two-day visit to Maharashtra beginning Wednesday during which he will meet state BJP leaders.

Nadda says Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA govt 'stalled' development works

JP Nadda on Wednesday dubbed the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray 'totally corrupt' and said they paused all the development works. Addressing a function in Mumbai, he alleged there was rampant corruption in the MVA government from top to bottom. He also appealed to the party cadres to ensure that the next mayor of Mumbai is from the BJP.

"All the development works had come to a standstill. That government used to block all works of development and infrastructure development," Nadda said.

He said this scenario has changed as the double-engine government of the NDA under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking care of the people of Maharashtra and fulfilling all their aspirations and wishes.

The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government is addressing the issues of the people, he said.

"We all need to work in such a way that the next mayor of Mumbai city will be from BJP," he told the party functionaries 

आज विले पार्ले पश्चिम, मुंबई में आयोजित 'मुंबई मोर्चा अघाड़ी' की बैठक को संबोधित किया।

आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के नेतृत्व में भाजपा अमृतकाल में अपने जनसेवा और 'पंच प्रण' के संकल्प से विकसित भारत निर्माण के लिए समर्पित है। pic.twitter.com/QZOCMRBnwg — Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) May 17, 2023

Nadda advised BJP workers to develop skills of listening to the people.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come up with various skill development courses for people. Our party workers should develop some skills as well including the ability to listen to the people," he said.

BMC elections to choose new Mumbai mayor likely in November

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are likely to be held sometime around Diwali in November this year. The last mayor of Mumbai before the five-year term of the BMC ended in March 2022 was Kishori Pednekar, who belongs to Uddhav Thackeray-led faction. The state government then appointed the administrator -- Iqbal Singh Chahal -- in the BMC as elections could not be held before the expiry of the five-year term.

Earlier in the 2017 BMC elections, the BJP made giant strides by winning 82 of 227 seats, just two seats behind the Shiv Sena (undivided).

JP Nadda's comments on the next mayor of Mumbai are likely to ruffle the feathers of estranged ally-turned-foe Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), which has ruled the Mumbai civic body for over two decades as Shiv Sena (undivided) till March 2022, and considers Mumbai as its citadel.