Mumbai, Mar 12: The BJP's UP grand slam may cast a shadow on the party's fragile ties with the Shiv Sena ties in Maharashtra with CM Devendra Fadnavis taking on Matoshree with renewed vigour, said observers.

Buoyed by the UP win, the Maharashtra BJP will roll up its sleeves against Matoshree in a bid to reaffirm the Fadnavis regime's credentials in state politics, sources said. On the other hand, sources in the Sena said party president Uddhav Thackeray will soon embark on a statewide tour to revamp the party at the grass roots level. 

Sources in BJP said, "The UP mandate has come as a shot in the BJP's arm. Fadnavis will now feel emboldened to tighten screws on the Sena in the BMC on the issue of transparency in the civic administration."

The CM's decision to set up a committee of three former civil servants to look into the func three former civil servants to look into the functioning of the Mumbai civic body and suggest legal and fiscal restructuring of its administration is seen as BJP's first salvo against Matoshree. "With the high-powered committee's help the BJP will rupture the Sena's contract-tender Raj in the BMC," said a Mahanagarpalika veteran. Fadnavis will soon appoint a deputy Lokayukta to keep a close vigil on the BMC's finances. The BJP has for long been accusing the Sena of patronising widespread corruption in the municipal corporation. In fact, Fadnavis led his party's poll campaign in the Mumbai civic elections on the transparency' plank. 

What irks Fadnavis most is the fact that the Sena, which severed its poll ties with the BJP on the eve of the BMC polls amidst Thackeray's vow never to have a poll tie-up with any party , continues to be part of the Fadnavis regime and continues to spew fire on it.

Meanwhile, Matoshree was tight-lipped on the UP results. There were no reports till late Saturday evening of Uddhav congratulating PM Narendra Modi for the poll victory .

However, Sanjay Raut, in a statement to the media, compared the BJP poll win in UP with the Sena's recent performance in the Mumbai civic body elections. "Now all will realise how the Sena halted the Modi wave in the BMC polls," said the Sena leader, in a not-so veiled attempt to downplay the Modi `wave' in UP.

"But Raut should know that the BJP won 82 seats as against the Sena's 84 in the 227-strong BMC. This is a clear indication that the Modi wave was very much on in Mumbai too," countered a BJP corporator.