Shiv Sena and BJP partners in corruption: Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan

MUMBAI: A day after Shiv Sena decided to contest upcoming civic polls including Mumbai without tying up with BJP, state unit Congress president Ashok Chavan today accused the saffron parties of being "partners in corruption".

He demanded that Sena president Uddhav Thackeray should pull out of NDA governments in Centre and Maharashtra instead of "boasting" that he had snapped ties with the BJP.

"Congress party's success in the upcoming polls is assured as Sena is not aligning with the BJP," the former chief minister said.

Taking a jibe at Thackeray for the comments made by him at yesterday's rally that he will not go with a begging bowl to anybody for an alliance, Chavan said, "this meant he (Thackeray) had gone with a begging bowl for an alliance earlier, which proves the Congress' charge that Sena was desperate for power."

He also hit out at the BJP over its transparency plank for elections.

"The most non-transparent government is talking about transparency. Just because their (Sena and BJP's) political arithmetic did not work out they have decided to go separate ways and (will) join hands again to enjoy power and indulge in corruption," Chavan alleged.

He said people know how the two saffron allies had fought with each other in Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) elections while accusing each other of corruption and then joined hands after elections to rule the civic body.

"In Mumbai, the corrupt practices of the two allies who have ruled the civic body for 22 years will not be forgotten just because they are fighting elections separately," the MPCC chief said, adding there is a "tremendous resentment" among people against Sena and BJP.