News Analysis India

Tag: Maharashtra Civic Polls

  • NCP wants to fight Thane, Palghar civic polls under MVA banner: Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad

    By PTI

    THANE: The Thane and Palghar units of the NCP met on Saturday to discuss the upcoming civic polls in the two districts and unanimously decided to fight under the Maha Vikas Aghadi banner in order to defeat the BJP, said state minister and senior party leader Jitendra Awhad.

    The meeting was attended by the chiefs of all district units of the party and it was decided that all efforts would be taken to maintain unity in MVA, which also consists of the Shiv Sena and Congress, he told reporters.

    He claimed guardian minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde also was in favour of the MVA fighting the civic polls unitedly. “Our main opponent is the BJP and our single point programme is to defeat the BJP,” he added.

  • Maharashtra civic polls: BJP bags most seats, MVA total higher

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI:  The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVS) coalition continued to dominate electoral politics in Maharashtra by emerging as the largest seat-winning alliance while the BJP retained the position of single largest party in terms of seats in the recently-concluded urban local body elections in the western state.

    According to the state election commission data, out of the 1,649 seats of urban local bodies, BJP bagged 384 seats while NCP won 344 seats, Congress 316 and Shiv Sena 284 seats. It shows that the Maha Vikas Aghadi bagged 944 seats in total. The NCP is the biggest gainer in urban local bodies while the Sena has turned out the biggest loser with 284 seats. Despite having the CM from the party, it could not perform better in the urban local body elections.

    Another striking feature of the election was NCP MLA Rohit Pawar single-handedly winning 15 out of 17 seats at Karjat. A BJP-dominated constituency, Rohit Pawar worked hard to change the political landscape of the town. A similar success story is of Rohit Patil, son of late home minister and NCP’s common face R R Patil, who campaigned hard and won 10 out of 17 seats in Kavathe-Mahankal. 

    Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said that despite the misuse of money and muscle power, the saffron party has emerged as the single largest party in the election. He said the BJP is once again the “number one” party in Maharashtra. “People have again put their faith in the BJP’s work and the strong leadership of PM Narendra Modi,” the former CM said.

    NCP spokesperson and cabinet minister Nawab Malik said that once again the MVS bagged the highest numbers of seats. “The urban local body elections result establishes that people of Maharashtra are in favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi. This is the receipt for our good work,” Malik said.

    NCP state president Jayant Patil said, “Our leadership has been continuously making dialogue with common man, taking feedback and focusing on people-oriented work.” State Congress president Nana Patole said that they are happy with the results.

  • Why wait for alliance when you are used to fighting alone: Sanjay Raut on civic polls

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said his party should be prepared to contest civic polls, due early next year in around 10 Maharashtra cities, on its own and they are in favour of an alliance if it materialises with respect, but there will be no compromise on the party’s saffron flag.

    Addressing party workers at Bhosari in Pimpri-Chinchwad town of neighbouring Pune, Raut said there is resentment among the Sena cadre in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad that the NCP, which is strong in the two cities, is “neglecting” the Uddhav Thackeray-led party despite being its alliance partner in the state government.

    Referring to Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s current visit to New Delhi, Raut in a lighter vein said he was there to take stock of the “Delhi way of functioning”.

    Noting that there was resentment among the Shiv Sena workers in Pune and Pimpri-Chichwad over the NCP “neglecting” their party ahead of the civic polls due next year, the Rajya Sabha member said, “Don’t upset us, otherwise there will be a problem. (NCP leader) Ajit Pawar, who is Pune’s gaurdian minister, also listens to the chief minister. So, local NCP leaders should also accommodate the Shiv Sena.”

    He said it was upsetting that the Shiv Sena had not been able to unfurl its saffron flag at the civic bodies of the two cities.

    “We are used to fighting alone. Why wait for an alliance? Let us plan to contest all seats. If an alliance materialises with respect and dignity, its okay. There will be no compromise over our saffron flag,” the Sena leader said.

    Raut further said come what may, “we have to have our own mayor in Pimpri-Chinchwad”.

    “If we can get the chief minister’s post with 56 MLAs, we can get the mayor’s post with 40 to 50 corporators,” the Sena’s chief spokesperson said.

    After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena parted ways with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post and forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress to form government.

  • No differences in MVA over ward structure for civic polls: Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

    By PTI

    PUNE: There is no difference of opinion among members of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra over the multi-member ward system for civic body elections, deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar claimed on Friday.

    Pawar, guardian minister of Pune district, was talking to the media after a COVID-19 review meeting here.

    The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government earlier this week announced that in municipal corporations each ward will have a panel of three corporators while wards of municipal councils will have two-member panels.

    But Congress, a member of the MVA, is opposed to this system.

    “As an individual party they (MVA constituents) have their own views about the number of members in a ward. However, we are all together…whatever may be the decision on the ward structure, it will be agreable to all three parties. We will discuss the ward structure issue in the cabinet meeting next week,” Pawar, an NCP leader, told reporters.

    Talking about relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in Pune, Pawar said last week professional swimmers were allowed to use swimming pools, and from the next week ordinary citizens too will be allowed entry at pools provided they have taken two shots of coronavirus vaccines.

    But people must keep wearing masks and he had given instructions to police to take strict action if norms are violated, the deputy CM said.

    He also opined that the present gap of 84 days between two doses of coronavirus vaccines should be reduced, and said he would speak to the Union government about this.