Months after the BJP returned to power in Maharashtra in alliance with Shiv Sena rebels, Amit Shah asked his party to inflict a "deeper wound" on Uddhav Thackeray.
The Union Home Minister was referring to elections for Mumbai's civic body - the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, or BMC. Shah set a target of winning 150 of the 227 BMC seats for the BJP and Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde faction.
Addressing a meeting of BJP functionaries in Mumbai on 5 September 2022, Shah said, "If you hit a person at any place, it does hurt. When you hit a person on his home ground, the pain is deeper. Now is the time to inflict a deeper wound on Sena."
The Shiv Sena has ruled the BMC for almost 3 decades. Currently, the civic body is being run by an administrator as the 5-year term has ended and elections are awaited.
Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde are engaged in a battle to claim the name and symbol of Shiv Sena, and declare their own faction the true legatees of Bal Thackeray's party.
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