MUMBAI: A day after state NCP president Jayant Patil, Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai and state Congress chief Nana Patole reached a consensus on joining forces for the nagar panchayat (municipal council) polls, it appears that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) banner will gain control over maximum councils in Maharashtra.
“As state government, MVA’s performance was impressive. In the nagar panchayats too, we will have to ensure that the BJP is kept out of power. We must ensure that only MVA nominees are elected as presidents,” said the joint statement issued Patil, Desai and Patole on Sunday.
Elections to the 106 nagar panchayats were held a fortnight ago. Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP won the majority of seats under the MVA banner, but the BJP emerged as the single-largest party. Of the 1,802 seats in the 106 nagar panchayats, BJP won 420, NC, Congress 355, Shiv Sena 298, Independents 218 and others 111.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said it would not be difficult for the MVA to win at least 75 councils. “The NCP has secured a clear majority in 28 councils, Congress in 18 and Shiv Sena in eight. Further, in some councils, NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena had contested independently and won. They are now keen to support the MVA banner,” he added.
Malik further said it would be wrong to compare NCP’s performance with BJP as the latter had contested on 1,700 seats and won 420, while his party had bagged 370 of the 945 seats it had contested. “In terms of strike rate and percentage, NCP’s performance was best,” he insisted.
It was expected that BJP, which secured a clear majority in 30 municipal councils, would get support from Independents and even a few NCP and Shiv Sena candidates who had contested independently to reach the magic figure of 50. But now it seems difficult for BJP to achieve this target with the three allies teaming up again.
In view of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s clear message, Shiv Sena members said will ensure that MVA nominees are elected president in most of the councils. “Thackeray had recently expressed displeasure over the poor performance of Shiv Sena in the nagar panchayat polls and said that he would not tolerate laxity,” a Sena leader said.
“As state government, MVA’s performance was impressive. In the nagar panchayats too, we will have to ensure that the BJP is kept out of power. We must ensure that only MVA nominees are elected as presidents,” said the joint statement issued Patil, Desai and Patole on Sunday.
Elections to the 106 nagar panchayats were held a fortnight ago. Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP won the majority of seats under the MVA banner, but the BJP emerged as the single-largest party. Of the 1,802 seats in the 106 nagar panchayats, BJP won 420, NC, Congress 355, Shiv Sena 298, Independents 218 and others 111.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said it would not be difficult for the MVA to win at least 75 councils. “The NCP has secured a clear majority in 28 councils, Congress in 18 and Shiv Sena in eight. Further, in some councils, NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena had contested independently and won. They are now keen to support the MVA banner,” he added.
Malik further said it would be wrong to compare NCP’s performance with BJP as the latter had contested on 1,700 seats and won 420, while his party had bagged 370 of the 945 seats it had contested. “In terms of strike rate and percentage, NCP’s performance was best,” he insisted.
It was expected that BJP, which secured a clear majority in 30 municipal councils, would get support from Independents and even a few NCP and Shiv Sena candidates who had contested independently to reach the magic figure of 50. But now it seems difficult for BJP to achieve this target with the three allies teaming up again.
In view of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s clear message, Shiv Sena members said will ensure that MVA nominees are elected president in most of the councils. “Thackeray had recently expressed displeasure over the poor performance of Shiv Sena in the nagar panchayat polls and said that he would not tolerate laxity,” a Sena leader said.
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