With elections to the local government bodies round the corner and uncertainty over alliance looming large, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urged BJP workers to explore the possibility of tie-up with other parties wherever it proves beneficial.
Speaking at the inauguration of the BJP’s regional office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’s Chikalthana on Sunday, Fadnavis said, “We should enter into alliances whereever it is beneficial to us. But at the same time, if an alliance does not materialise, we must remember that the parties currently fighting against us were once our allies.” BJP leaders Raosaheb Danve, minister Atul Save, Pankaja Munde, Meghna Bordikar, and MP Bhagwat Karad were also present for the inauguration.
Fadnavis said the decision regarding alliances and distribution of seats takes place at the district-level. “This is not a state assembly election. This is a local election where local units have been asked to decide the candidature. There are some places where the Mahayuti is fighting elections together, at some places two parties are together while at some, no alliance has taken place. Decisions will be taken depending on the local situation. We can give the exact information about the alliances only by Tuesday.”
As far as the municipal corporation elections are concerned, there are different norms. “This is because municipal corporations have vast areas under their jurisdictions. Here too, wherever possible, alliances will be formed,” said the Chief Minister.
The schedule for the elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats in the state 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 be on December 3.
Fadnavis also heavily criticised the Congress stating that the Grand Old Party’s allegations of vote theft and poll irregularities made without submitting evidence to the Election Commission or courts will only lead to more electoral losses.
“The Congress must reconnect with citizens and raise real public issues if it wants to revive its political prospects…If they do not improve their approach, I predict they will face the same defeat in the upcoming local elections,” he said.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance has already witnessed cracks with the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar allying, while keeping out Shiva Sena, led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
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Like Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar too held a meeting in Pune last week, asking party leaders to explore the possibility of a tie-up with other parties like the NCP (S-P), said party sources.
Asked about the possible alliance with Sharad Pawar’s party, NCP’s Pune president Sunil Tingare said, ”So far, we are exploring the possibility of fielding candidates in all the wards. We are checking whether we have enough candidates. If not, then the BJP—our alliance partner at the state-level—might have some candidates.”
Tingare said though Ajit Pawar had spoken about exploring the possibility of alliance, there is no forward movement on this aspect. ”We have not yet reached that stage yet. There is still time for civic elections…We will see how things unfold in the coming days,” he said.
Opposition NCP (SP) working president and LS MP Supriya Sule also said Sunday that the clear picture of alliance will be out only after the nominations end. “Our president Sharad Pawar has clarified that this is a local election and local units have been authorised to take a decision based on the local conditions. The fronts and 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.
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In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the NCP voiced the same view. ”We have not contacted leaders from Sharad Pawar’s party. Neither have they. We have only heard about their leaders approaching our national chief who has also asked us to explore the possibility of a tie up with NCP (S-P),” said Yogesh Behl, president of NCP’s Pimpri-Chinchwad unit. Behl however ruled out any alliance with BJP in Pimpri-Chinchwad. ”We will certainly not have an alliance with BJP in Pimpri-Chinchwad,” he said.
The possibility of alliances between parties belonging to Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi emerged after the two NCP factions tied up to fight the civic body polls in Chandgad and contest against the BJP under the leadership of Sharad Pawar.
Similarly, in Konkan too, arch rivals Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena UBT scorched the possibility of coming together for the local body election in Kankavli. All the parties have come together to take on Rane family and BJP in Kankavli. At a meeting held recently, Vaibhav Naik from Uddhav Sena and Rajan Teli of Shiv Sena were present where they decided to set up Shahar Vikas Aghadi. However, Uddhav Thackeray shot down the idea of an alliance with the Shinde-led Sena.
In Dharashiv district of Marathwada region, the Mahayuti is planning to contest unitedly. 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 family, is an NCP (SP) Lok Sabha MP from Madha seat. The ruling NCP too has decided to fight independently, making it a triangular fight.
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In Nashik, the BJP is allying with Shinde-led Sena, keeping NCP out. In Vidarbha’s Bhandara, all parties are contesting independently.
Another Opposition party, Congress, has ordered its local units to ally with any party other than from the Mahayuti. “We have already given the authority to our local party workers to form an alliance as per the local condition. The only condition is that the ally must not be from the Mahayuti,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal. The party has already formed an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) in Nanded, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Buldhana and with Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) led by Dhangar leader Mahadev Jankar in Satara.
– With inputs from Alok Deshpande
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