The political battle for municipal and local body elections is heating up in Maharashtra. The Mahayuti and Mahavikas Aghadi alliances have started preparing strongly. While the municipal polls are expected to be fought mainly by Mahayuti, the BJP appears determined to push the Thackeray faction out of the Mumbai municipal elections. Meanwhile, nearly half of the former corporators from the Thackeray faction have joined the Shinde camp.
Adding to this, former MLA Nirmala Gavit from Nashik joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Gavit declared her final farewell to the Uddhav Thackeray faction and said she joined Shiv Sena to fulfil public expectations. Her entry is seen as a major setback for the Uddhav faction.
At the time of joining, a large number of women workers also entered the Shinde faction. Gavit said, “I joined Shiv Sena under the guidance of Eknath Shinde. I came into Shiv Sena in 2019 and now the leadership has changed. The party remains the same. I will work to solve local issues with proper guidance.”
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Along with Nirmala Gavit, 1500 women workers from Igatpuri and Trimbakeshwar talukas officially joined the party. Several leaders including Sharad Lohakare Patil, Taluka President Machhindra Pawar, former Deputy Chairperson of Nashik Zilla Parishad Nayana Gavit, Somnath Joshi, Motiram Dive, Ganpat Wagh, Mathuratai Jadhav, Sandeep Jadhav, Ganesh Jadhav, Sahebrao Dhongade, Sharad Kutke, Gulabrao Waje, Ramesh Shinde, Vilas Malunjkar, Ambadas Madi, Madhukar Pandit Zole, Nana Ware, Ramesh Shende, Ramesh Bhoye, Dilip Ghorpade, Tukaram Chaudhary, Lalchand Chavan, Pawan Dalvi and Pundalik Kanoje also joined Shiv Sena.
During the event, Eknath Shinde gave his best wishes to the women workers. He joked about the presence of many sisters and fewer brothers. Shinde assured that government schemes like Ladki Bhiwan Yojana, Ladka Bhau and farmers’ welfare programmes would continue without interruption.
Shinde praised the workers for their success against opposition parties in the assembly elections and urged everyone to work hard to raise the Mahayuti flag in upcoming local body polls. He called upon leaders in Nashik to work like a united family with Shiv Sena at every village and home.