Congress will win 70-75 seats in Thane civic body polls: Narayan Rane

Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane said his party will fight forthcoming civic body polls in Mumbai and Thane on the issues of "rampant corruption and misrule" even as he expressed hope to win 70-75 seats here.

Addressing a meeting of party workers here on Wednesday Rane came down heavily on Shiv Sena saying he will at an "appropriate" time "expose rampant corruption and misrule" of the party which "ruined" both the civic bodies.

"The government has not fulfilled its promises and hence citizens are waiting for the polls. Development has come to a grinding halt, the state is bankrupt, and the government has failed to do any work. People are annoyed with this dispensation," Rane, who is the party's district in-charge said.

"If you want development and good governance, vote us to power," he said.

Talking to newsmen, he said his party was hopeful of bagging at least 70-75 seats in Thane Municipal Corporation.

The senior leader also warned those defecting from the party saying will face defeat in the polls.

The "BJP wave has ended" and the "Congress wave is at its peak", he claimed appealing partymen to do away with infighting and work for victory.

Rane said his committee had recommended 16 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutes for the Maratha community.

It had recommended the inclusion of Marathas in the socially-and economically backward class, which forms the basis of the 16 per cent reservation without infringing on the reservation in the above sectors for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and other communities.

We had suggested reservation based on the formula already existing in Tamil Nadu, he said.

Sena rules the 130-member TMC with more than 58 seats while in the 227-member house in BMC, Sena has 75 corporators.

Atleast 10 municipal corporations including Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi, Pune, Pimpari-Chinchwad, Solapur and Akola are going to polls by February 2017.