Mumbai, Feb. 14 -- Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana on Saturday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for boasting about the election of a Muslim as Mayor of Parbhani, calling it a "total failure of their intelligence" and a distraction from Maharashtra's real issues.

Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Muslim corporator, Syed Iqbal, was elected the new Mayor of Parbhani city on Thursday, with backing from the Congress. He becomes the first Muslim to serve as mayor for any Shiv Sena faction in Maharashtra.

In the mayoral poll, Iqbal won with 39 votes, defeating his BJP opponent Tirumala Khillare by a 13-vote margin. Congress corporator Ganesh Deshmukh was chosen as Parbhani's Deputy Mayor.

In an editorial, Saamana said, "While Maharashtra is in ...