Not ruling out a pre-poll alliance between the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)-led by Raj Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) working president Supriya Sule on Wednesday questioned what was wrong with such a move. “If a strong democracy has to be kept alive and if we all are united in the interest of the country, then what is wrong with that?” she said in Pune, amid speculation that the MNS was moving closer to the Opposition MVA alliance ahead of the upcoming civic polls in the state. However, this is a major political decision and will be taken after consultations with all concerned parties, she said. “If Raj Thackeray is present at an MVA meeting, then whatever decision is made after the discussion will be made public,” Sule added. On Raj Thackeray’s suggestion to the State Election Commission that the civic polls should only be conducted when there is consensus among all political parties, Sule said that it was a good suggestion, but their stand on the issue would only be made public after a meeting of Opposition leaders in Mumbai on Wednesday. A delegation of political leaders, including NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, had met state election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare on Tuesday, raising concerns over the election process. On Wednesday, the Opposition leaders met senior election officials again, and asked the State Election Commission to postpone the local body elections if it could not prepare a reliable voters’ list. A few days ago, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had stated that Raj Thackeray was keen that the Congress be part of a pre-poll alliance for the civic polls, but the MNS had distanced itself from his statement. On the other hand, the Congress, which was against the MNS joining hands with the MVA, seems to be softening its stand. “Any decision to be part of an alliance which includes MNS will be taken by the party high command in Delhi,” said state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal. Meanwhile, the BJP and the Shiv Sena-led by Eknath Shinde are also trying to get the MNS to join the Mahayuti during the civic elections, saying that the ideologies of the MNS and the Congress are different. “The MNS should not forget Congress’s stand on Veer Damodar Sawarkar,” an MNS leader said.
