Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday held a one-and-a-half-hour closed-door meeting.
During the meeting, it was decided that the ruling Mahayuti alliance will contest the upcoming municipal elections across the state, including Mumbai and Thane, together, according to an official release.
State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and senior Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Chavan were also present at the meeting.
As per Shiv Sena`s official release, there was positive discussion between leaders of both parties on contesting the civic polls jointly as Mahayuti.
In the next two to three days, local-level discussions will begin among leaders for each municipal corporation to finalise seat-sharing and related matters.
It has also been agreed that office-bearers and workers from the BJP and Shiv Sena will not be allowed to switch to each other’s parties.
The primary contest in the Maharashtra local body elections is expected to be between the two major alliances, the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The Mahayuti (Ruling Coalition) alliance is in power at the state level, with its key constituents being the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (Ajit Pawar faction).
The main opposition alliance (Maha Vikas Aghadi) includes the Indian National Congress (INC), Shiv Sena (UBT) (Uddhav Thackeray faction), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (Sharad Pawar faction or NCP-SP), as well as other contesting parties.
Mahayuti will contest upcoming civic and Zill Parishad polls together: Shinde
Meanwhile, the Mahayuti will put up a united fight in the upcoming municipal corporation and zilla parishad polls, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Monday.
He advised MLAs and ministers of his party to follow the “alliance dharma” and refrain from making any statements or behaviour that would lead to a conflict in the Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Sena, and NCP.
Addressing Shiv Sena MLAs and ministers in Nagpur, Shinde said the party contested elections for the post of presidents in 168 municipal councils and 4,000 councillors.
He said the atmosphere was very conducive for Shiv Sena in the first phase of local body polls, voting for which was held on December 2, and that the party put up a good fight. The results will also be good for the party, he added.
“The municipal corporation and zilla parishad polls will be contested as a Mahayuti alliance. Follow the alliance dharma. Do not make any controversial statement or do anything that will cause a conflict in the alliance,” said Shinde.
The first phase of the Maharashtra local body elections saw Mahayuti allies contesting against each other at many places in Maharashtra.
In some cases, the campaign became acerbic, prompting Shinde to raise the issue with the top leadership of the BJP.
Shinde said there may have been some disputes during the first phase of polls, but the matter stands closed.
