Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Former leader of opposition in the legislative council and Uddhav Sena leader Ambadas Danve, while addressing a press conference here on Friday (December 26) said, “ Between 2005 and 2015, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested three municipal corporation elections as allies. In each election, Shiv Sena contested 65 seats, while the BJP contested 30 seats.”
This year, however, the BJP appears to have gained the upper hand over the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Despite having two MLAs and an MP in the city, the Shinde Sena does not have a guarantee of victory and is therefore being forced to trail behind the BJP, he alleged.
Danve said that seat-sharing between the BJP and the Shinde Sena is their internal matter. However, it is surprising to see the BJP offering fewer seats to the Shinde Sena, especially since in the previous three elections, Shiv Sena had contested twice as many seats as the BJP while in alliance. Now, seeing that the Shinde Sena has no alternative without them, the BJP appears to be undermining them, he said.
When asked about criticism by Shinde Sena leader and guardian minister Sanjay Shirsat regarding the torch rally (Mashal Rally) led by Uddhav Sena youth leader Aaditya Thackeray, Danve said that Shirsat’s own rallies never lasted even a minute and a half, whereas Aaditya Thackeray has travelled over 400 kilometers to lead the rally here. Everyone has the right to campaign, and Shirsat’s criticism only reflects a narrow mindset, he added.
Responding to a question about the status of an alliance with the Congress, NCP, and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, Danve said that preliminary discussions have been held with the Congress and Vanchit. However, the picture regarding seat-sharing is not yet clear. He added that within the next two days, they are prepared to take ‘two steps back’ while finalising seat-sharing within the alliance.
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Uddhav Sena to directly issue ‘B Forms’ to candidates
The Uddhav Sena will not announce a public list of its candidates. Instead, party candidates will be issued ‘B Forms’ on December 30. The party has already selected its probable candidates, who have begun campaigning.
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No alliance with NCP (Ajit Pawar)
An alliance with the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is not ideologically appropriate, and therefore, they will not be entering into an alliance with that faction for the elections, Danve clarified.