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Political lines blur as Mahayuti, MVA partners form alliances as per convenience
Mumbai: Unlike the first phase of local body elections that largely saw a straight contest between the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the municipal corporation polls in major cities across Maharashtra have thrown up a different picture.
In several corporations going to polls in the second phase, there is no clear Mahayuti-versus-MVA battle. Instead, parties across the ruling and opposition camps have formed alliances based on their electoral benefits, blurring ideological lines.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena are contesting together in at least 15 of the 29 municipal corporations. However, the natural allies who came together for the cause of “Hindutva” could not reach a consensus over sharing seats and chose to contest separately in Navi Mumbai, Mira Bhayandar, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Nanded, Amravati, Nashik, Malegaon, Dhule, Ahilyanagar, Akola, Jalna and Sangli.
While the BJP is becoming more ambitious with its electoral wins across the country, its Mahayuti partners—the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)—are not willing to cede space. Meanwhile, opposition parties are trying everything possible for the civic elections, as it is a battle for their existence following a crushing defeat in last year's assembly elections. This has resulted in different permutations and combinations emerging across the state.
One of the most notable developments is the coming together of the two rival NCP factions in a few cities. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) have joined hands for the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation elections to reclaim control over their erstwhile strongholds; they have also aligned in Parbhani. At the same time, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP formed alliances against the BJP in Nashik, Solapur and Dhule.
These alignments contradict chief minister Devendra Fadnavis's earlier statement that the BJP will team up with the Shiv Sena for all 29 municipal corporation polls. After their seat-sharing talks failed, the ruling partners publicly blamed each other for the outcome.
Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat slammed BJP leaders, saying, “Whatever happened is wrong, and because of their stubbornness. They have become arrogant and nothing else. The objections were raised on seats that were approved even by the chief minister, which means they do not want an alliance to happen.”
BJP minister Atul Save hit back, saying: “We had offered them 37 seats, but they did not approve. If the number of seats were low, then they should have spoken about it when the offer was made.”
The fallout has reshaped contests across cities. In Ulhasnagar, after the BJP declined to approve its seat demands, the Shiv Sena forged an alliance with Team Omie Kalani (TOK) and the SAI party. In Nagpur, however, the BJP and Shiv Sena are fighting together, keeping the NCP out of the coalition. There is a similar scenario in Kalyan-Dombivli, where the NCP is contesting independently on 50 seats.
In Akola, the BJP and NCP decided to exclude the Shiv Sena from the alliance. In Amravati, all three ruling parties are fighting the polls separately. The BJP has forged an alliance with the Ravi Rana-led Yuva Swabhimani Party (YSP).
On the opposition side, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray has preferred to tie up with his cousin Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) polls. This forced the Congress to team up with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and NCP (SP).
While the Congress refused to join the Thackeray cousins' alliance in Mumbai, fearing it would alienate north Indian voters in the metropolis, the party had no such qualms in Pune, where it tied up with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS.
In Vasai-Virar, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS decided to contest independently, after which the latter joined hands with the Hitendra Thakur-led Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA). In Nagpur, NCP (SP) decided to dump the MVA coalition and is contesting on its own.
While the Mahayuti remained intact in Panvel, eight opposition parties have joined forces against it. This includes the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, NCP (SP), MNS, Samajwadi Party, and VBA.
In Thane, the BJP and Shiv Sena chose to stick together, but the MVA was fragmented. The Shiv Sena (UBT) teamed up with the MNS and the NCP (SP), while the Congress and the NCP chose to contest independently.
According to political analysts, ideological differences do not significantly impact political parties, largely due to the commercialisation of politics. “In the past, too, political parties have formed alliances irrespective of ideological differences. It had first happened when the Congress and the BJP joined forces for a local body when Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chief minister. But this time, it has happened at a large level,” said Hemant Desai, a political analyst.
“The perspective has created ample options in the state following the split in the Shiv Sena and NCP, and no party has reservations against it, as for them, victory is the utmost important. This is the reason the turncoats get election tickets immediately after joining the party,” he added.
Source: HindustanTimes
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