Mumbai: Amid intense mudslinging between Shiv Sena and BJP ahead of BMC elections, the Uddhav Thackrey-led party rubbished the allegations of it having a "match-fixing" with Congress in the polls and challenged BJP to prove it or stop making statements that divert people's attention.
BJP, apparently accepting the challenge, without taking Uddhav Thackeray's name, sought an open debate with the Sena leadership over the matter.
Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar had on Sunday alleged "match-fixing" between Congress and Sena in 42 wards, saying both parties have fielded weak candidates in these wards to benefit the other.
"We challenge Ashish Shelar to prove his claims or stop making statements that divert people's attention. We want him to name the 42 wards in which he alleged our match-fixing with Congress," senior Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab said.
Reacting to it, BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, "We are completely ready to conduct an open debate. We want things to be out in public as well. We can prove what Ashish Shelar said is 100 per cent true."
"When (Anil) Parab was a part of seat-sharing negotiations, he kept on saying he does not have the powers to take the final decision. Now, if a debate happens, who decides if what we said is true?
"Thus, we want the person, who can take decisions in Sena (apparently referring to Thackeray) to be a part of the open debate so that we can prove our claims," Bhandari said.
Meanwhile, Parab, while speaking to reporters here, alleged that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, has given orders to all police stations to support BJP candidates.
Responding to the charge, Bhandari said Sena should not involve police department in its "dirty politics".
"He (Parab) may carry on with his mudslinging but the party should at least respect the sanctity of the police force and not include them in their dirty politics," the BJP leader said.
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