Mahayuti alliance to jointly contest upcoming Maharashtra civic polls

CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde held a meeting, deciding the ruling Mahayuti alliance will contest upcoming state municipal elections together. Local-level talks on seat-sharing will begin in the next few days.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday held a one-and-a-half-hour closed-door meeting. In the meeting, it was decided that the ruling Mahayuti alliance will contest the upcoming municipal elections across the state, including Mumbai and Thane, together, according to an official release.

Alliance Strategy Finalised

State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and senior Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Chavan were also present in the meeting. According to Shiv Sena's official release, there was positive discussion between leaders of both parties on fighting the civic polls unitedly as Mahayuti. In the next two to three days, local-level discussions will begin among leaders for each municipal corporation to finalise seat-sharing and other details.

It has also been agreed that office-bearers and workers from the BJP and Shiv Sena will not be allowed to switch to each other's parties.

State's Political Factions

The primary contest in the Maharashtra local body elections is reported to be between two major alliances, the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The Mahayuti (Ruling Coalition) alliance is in power at the state level, and its primary constituents are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (Ajit Pawar faction). The main opposition alliance (Maha Vikas Aghadi) comprises the Indian National Congress (INC), Shiv Sena (UBT) (Uddhav Thackeray faction), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (Sharad Pawar faction, or NCP-SP) and other contesting parties. (ANI)

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