Maharashtra: Mahayuti to contest Zilla Parishad, Municipal Corporation elections together

Nagpur, Dec 10 Maharashtra Revenue Minister and BJP Election In-charge for local body polls Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday announced that the Mahayuti alliance partners BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP will together contest the upcoming elections to the 32 Zilla Parishads and 29 Municipal Corporations, saying that the unity among the three parties will remain intact.

"The unity of the Mahayuti will remain intact in the Zilla Parishad and Municipal Corporation elections. We have set a goal to achieve 51 per cent of the votes and win, and the Mahayuti will contest these elections together,” he said.

Minister Bawankule was speaking to reporters after a meeting attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BJP State President Ravindra Chavan, and himself.

"Instructions have been given to all district-level leaders to complete the Mahayuti's structure at the local level. While some issues may arise on 5 to 10 per cent of the seats locally, Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde will personally sit and take the final decision there,” he said.

Minister Bawankule further said that the Mahayuti is also prepared for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections.

"Although the Shiv Sena has demanded 90 to 100 seats, the decision on seat-sharing will be taken after examining technical aspects. For this purpose, a committee comprising four office-bearers each from the BJP and Shiv Sena, along with representatives of the Mahayuti, will meet and discuss," he added. He clarified that where differences of opinion occur, senior leaders will find a solution. Furthermore, the decision on the Mayor's post in Mumbai will be taken jointly by CM Fadnavis and DCMs Shinde, and Ajit Pawar.

Minister Bawankule stressed that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is an integral part of the Mahayuti and will fight the upcoming battles alongside them. He clarified that in the past local self-government elections, there were some "differences of opinion" among workers in a few places, but those have now been completely resolved. "We had no 'heartbreak', only election-related 'differences of opinion'," he asserted.

Bawankule’s statement comes in the wake of allegations of poaching made by the Shiv Sena and BJP leaders during the recently held elections to 264 nagar parishads and nagar panchayats. Besides, in several local bodies, the three partners contested against each other, which led to verbal duels among them during the election campaign.

Speaking on the issue of a separate Vidarbha and its development, Minister Bawankule sharply criticised the Congress. He stated that since Devendra Fadnavis' government came to power in 2014, Vidarbha has seen rapid development. "The BJP believes that small states can develop, and our aim is to give full justice to Vidarbha. The Congress's decline in this region is due to its neglect of Vidarbha," he said.

He also clarified that the Forest Department headquarters (Forest office) will not be shifted to Mumbai, as Vidarbha has the largest forest cover.

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