'People are fed up with Cong's use & throw politics'

MUMBAI: Results of the elections to the 10 municipal corporations have started a process of polarisation in Maharashtra, said state BJP president Nitin Gadkari. Mr Gadkari said the results reflected smaller parties��� disillusionment with the Congress.

���Smaller parties, especially those with a sizeable support-base among Dalits and Muslims, are now fed up with the Congress��� politics of use and throw. They are now aligning against the Congress,��� Mr Gadkari said.

The BJP leader, who spearheaded the saffron combine���s win over ruling Congress in Nagpur, said the performance of the saffron parties in elections has removed the Congress��� claim that there was no opposition in the state.

���Before the polls, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh went to the extent of saying that there was no opposition in Maharashtra. Results not only prove that the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is very much a formidable opposition, but also signal the start of anti-Congress sentiment,��� Mr Gadkari said.

Recent civic polls were a dress-rehearsal for the 2009 assembly elections and the results would help the saffron parties consolidate their position further, he added.

Taking a dig at revenue minister Narayan Rane, Mr Gadkari said all those ex-Shiv Sena leaders that the Congress ���imported��� had failed to deliver. ���More than anything, BMC results prove that Balasaheb Thackeray���s charisma still prevails and that people in Mumbai-Thane-Nagpur have faith in the saffron alliance���s commitment to development.���