Ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, 66 party corporators in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) have joined the Eknath Shinde camp after leaving Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, according to media reports.
All the corporators met Shinde at his residence on Wednesday night.
With the defection of 66 of the 67 Shiv Sena corporators, Uddhav Thackeray has effectively lost control over the TMC. The BMC elections are scheduled to take place soon and the dates for the same will also be announced in a while.
The three-party Maha Vikas Aghathi government in Maharashtra collapsed on June 29 following days of political turmoil. Eknath Shinde formed his new government with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While Shinde became the chief minister, BJP senior leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.