Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Ahead of the municipal elections, BJP and Shinde Sena held nine meetings till yesterday to decide on a pre-poll alliance. However, the parties failed to reach a consensus on 12 seats. Following these meetings, BJP indicated it would present a revised proposal today, keeping Shinde Sena waiting the entire day.
With just one days left to file nomination papers for the municipal elections, the alliance talks between Shinde Sena and BJP have not made significant progress. Until Saturday, both parties conducted nine meetings to finalize seat-sharing. Shinde Sena remained firm on contesting 41 seats, while BJP offered 33 seats to Shinde Sena but insisted on retaining 55 seats for itself. Since the deadlock persisted, local leaders had forwarded a summary of discussions to CM Devendra Fadnavis and DCM Eknath Shinde. As per directives from the top leadership to form an alliance, local leaders were expected to reconvene today and take a decision. BJP informed Shinde Sena that it would present a revised proposal. However, Shinde Sena’s coordination committee spent the entire day waiting for BJP’s proposal. BJP repeatedly assured Shinde Sena leaders that discussions would follow immediately after internal meetings, but by 9 pm, Shinde Sena was still kept waiting.
------------
No resolution in Janjal and Vaidya’s wards
The parties could not reach an agreement in Ward Nos. 22 and 27. Rajendra Janjal is interested from Ward 22, while Raju Vaidya, a recent entrant to BJP, is keen from prabhag 27. Sources also reported disagreements between the parties over Ward Nos. 1 and 17 in central city.
------------
"We were expecting a revised proposal from BJP today. However, even by 9 pm, their internal meetings were still ongoing. Since no new proposal came from them, our discussions did not happen till late Sunday. We could not reach consensus on 12 seats. If at least a friendly contest is proposed there, we will consider it."
— Sanjay Shirsat, Guardian Minister and Shinde Sena leader
--------
No joint meeting held
In some areas, the alliance may contest together, while in others, a friendly electoral fight seems likely. Hence, seat-sharing decisions could not be finalized on Sunday. The draft sent to senior BJP leaders is still not final, and therefore, no joint meeting was held today.
— Atul Save, OBC Welfare Minister
(Use photographs of Save and Shirsat as per file)