Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday suggested the party may contest the Mumbai civic polls independently. Speaking at the press conference he said that the INDIA bloc was formed only for national-level elections, and nothing was discussed about contesting municipal or state polls together.
"There has never been any discussion on state and local elections in INDIA alliance. INDIA alliance is only for national-level elections. In the upcoming municipal elections in Maharashtra, everyone will decide by holding a meeting in 8-10 days whether we will fight together or alone," former Maharashtra CM said as quoted by ANI.
Pawar’s remarks follow Shiv Sena (UBT)’s announcement to contest local body polls in Maharashtra independently.
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The MVA alliance secured only 46 seats in the state elections—20 by Shiv Sena (UBT), 16 by Congress, and 10 by NCP (SP)—after a strong showing in the Lok Sabha polls. This led some Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders to urge Thackeray to consider breaking away from the MVA and contesting elections alone.
Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut criticised the Congress for its inaction, claiming no INDIA bloc meetings have occurred since the Lok Sabha elections. "The Congress party is responsible for organizing these meetings," Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, said. "The INDIA alliance was formed for the Lok Sabha elections, but not a single meeting has been held since then."
The veteran leader also expressed support for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. "In Delhi assembly elections, my feeling is that we should help Arvind Kejriwal," he said.