Uncertainty over alliances in Maharashtra civic polls looms large; ‘not a state assembly election,’ says CM Devendra Fadnavis

The schedule for the elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats under the first phase of the multi-phase local body polls was announced by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) in the first week of November. The voting will be held on December 2, and the counting will take place on December 3.

The ruling Mahayuti alliance has already witnessed cracks with the BJP, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Shiv Sena fighting separately in many places.

In Solapur, the BJP has decided to go solo against the mighty Mohite-Patil family, which has been controlling the Akluj municipal council without interruption. Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, a member of the Mohite-Patil family, is the Opposition NCP (SP) Lok Sabha MP from the Madha seat. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, too, has decided to fight independently here, making it a triangular contest.

In Nasik, the BJP is allying with the Shinde-led Sena, keeping the NCP out. In Vidarbha’s Bhandara and the Dharashiv district of the Marathwada region, all Mahayuti parties are contesting separately.

In Kolhapur’s Chandgad, the NCP has decided to ally with the Opposition NCP (SP) led by veteran politician Sharad Pawar.

Like Fadnavis, NCP (SP) working president and MP Supriya Sule, too, said that a clear picture of the alliance will emerge after November 17. “Our president, Sharad Pawar, has clarified that this is a local election and local units have been authorised to take a decision based on local conditions. The fronts, alliances will be formed at that level. It is only on Tuesday morning that we can tell you how many seats the party is fighting,” she said.

Meanwhile, state Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal said, “We have already given the authority to our local party workers to ally as per local conditions. The only condition is that the ally must not be from the Mahayuti.”

The party has already formed an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) in Nanded, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Buldhana, and with the Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) led by Mahadev Jankar in Satara.

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