Mumbai: Two months before the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election here, a former Shiv Sena MLA today joined the BJP.

Ex-legislator Suresh Gambhir joined BJP in presence of its state unit president Raosaheb Danve and Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar.

BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya of Shiv Sena also joined BJP at the function here. Ganacharya said he was resigning from the BEST post, after joining BJP.

Gambhir told reporters at the BJP city office at Dadar that he was not disgruntled with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

Gambhir was not holding any important responsibility in the Sena at present.

“There is no cause to doubt Uddhavji’s leadership.

However, the work being done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the backward classes is laudable. That is why I decided to join BJP,” Gambhir said.

Meanwhile, referring to the ‘poster war’ between Sena and BJP, Shelar said, “Let those (from Sena) who put up the posters show their masculine nature. Only then will I respond (to charges over the poster war).”

BJP recently put up banners in Shiv Sena stronghold of Dadar showing late Sena chief Bal Thackeray blessing the Prime Minister for his demonetisation move, while Sena countered it with posters chiding BJP for ‘finally remembering Balasaheb’.

Meanwhile, Shelar expressed his displeasure over posters which have come up in some parts of Mumbai, mocking BJP MP Kirit Somaiya’s speaking style.

The posters ridicule Somaiya, a known Sena baiter, over his lisping (the inability to correctly pronounce some sounds).

“This shows the mentality of those behind these posters,” Shelar said, without naming anyone from Sena.

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