Chavan meets Shah, Mahayuti allies to prepare joint strategy for BMC polls

Highly placed sources in the BJP said, “Chavan conveyed to Shah the summary of the Fadnavis-Shinde meeting and details regarding BJP’s organisational plans and preparedness.”

The Mahayuti allies — BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar — are now preparing a joint strategy for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, expected to be held in January.

According to senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the seat-sharing formula of Mahayuti allies will be based on technical and strategic considerations.

Bawankule said that a committee comprising four representatives from each alliance members will discuss seat-sharing for the 227-member civic body. “Shiv Sena sought 90 to 100 seats; the final formula would be based on technical considerations,” he said.

“Any disagreements at the local level will be referred to senior leaders, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shinde, for resolution. District-level leaders have also been instructed to ensure coordination among allies across Mumbai.Wherever disagreements arise, senior leaders will resolve them,” he added.

He added that the Mahayuti alliance aims to secure 51 per cent of the vote share in both municipal corporation and Zilla Parishad elections. “There may be disagreements over 5 to 10 per cent of seats locally. In such cases, Fadnavis and Shinde will sit together and take the final decision,” Bawankule said.

He also stressed that Ajit Pawar and the NCP remain an integral part of the alliance. “In previous local body elections, differences arose only over seat allocation and among workers. There were no differences of heart or ideology,” he said.

On the Mumbai mayoral post, Bawankule said the decision will be taken jointly by Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar once the seat-sharing is finalised.

Elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats were held on December 2. The results were deferred to December 21. In the three-tier local body elections, the dates for the second and third phase of polling for 32 zilla parishads and 29 municipal corporations are likely to take place next month, for which the State Election Commission has not announced the dates yet.

In the December 2 elections, BJP and Shiv Sena were locked in a bitter fight with workers clashing with each other at several places.