Mumbai: In a major jolt ahead of the upcoming local elections, the ruling Congress was practically wiped out in the Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC) with all 28 corporators, including former MLA Shaikh Rasheed and his wife Tahera - the Mayor of Malegaon, 'defecting' to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here on Thursday.
Malegaon is a Muslim-dominated town, the hub of powerloom textiles in Nashik district while the NCP-Congress are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi along with Shiv Sena currently ruling the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, NCP State President and Minister Jayant Patil, Ministers Nawab Malik and Chhagan Bhujbal, welcomed the new flock from the Congress to the party fold in Mumbai on Thursday afternoon.
Malegaon Mayor Tahera Shaikh, her husband and corporator Shaikh Rasheed, a former MLA, and 26 others entered the NCP, pushing the two parties towards a possible political conflict.
Last year, Shaikh Rasheed had quit as the Malegaon Congress President, triggering widespread speculation, but things settled down.
The political arithmetic in the 84-seat MMC has drastically changed with the fresh development, barely months ahead of the looming civic elections, along with other important civic bodies in the state.
The current tally is Congress 28, NCP 20, Shiv Sena 12, BJP 9, AIMIM 7 and JD(S) 7, but now the NCP has shot upto 48 and the Congress reduced to zero.
Shaikh Rasheed's son, Shaikh Asif - a former Congress MLA, had in the last year switched to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) along with his supporters.
Shaikh Rasheed, his son Asif and others are reportedly unhappy with the Maharashtra state leadership of the Congress party.
With the defection of party corporators to the NCP, the Congress meanwhile is searching for a new face to lead and rebuild the party in Malegaon - a Congress bastion for many decades.
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