Mumbai, Dec 23 (PTI) The formal countdown for high-stakes elections to 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, began with the nomination process opening on Tuesday, even as alliances for the crucial
battle remain unsettled in the ruling and opposition camps.
The BJP-led Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are holding hectic parleys to finalise seat-sharing deals and candidates amid trust deficits and electoral compulsions.
The Congress has scheduled its parliamentary board meeting on December 25 and 26.
The last date for filing of nominations is December 30, and scrutiny of papers will be done on December 31.
The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is January 2. The final list of candidates and symbol allocation will be done on January 3.
Polling will be held for 2,869 seats of corporators across 29 civic bodies, including Mumbai, with more than 3.48 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise on January 15. Counting is scheduled for the following day.
Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Pune, and Nagpur are some of the prominent civic bodies which will test the popularity of Mahayuti and MVA.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last week said that the BJP and the Shiv Sena, led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, will contest the civic elections together in most places.
He said efforts were also underway to finalise seat-sharing arrangements among the Mahayuti allies, including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in as many corporations as possible.
Fadnavis had said the Mahayuti alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, will generally work together. However, in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP are likely to contest separately in a friendly contest.
Senior Congress leader Satej Patil on Tuesday revealed that Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has contacted him for a possible alliance with the NCP for the Pune civic body elections.
"The Congress is looking forward to contesting as Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Pune, and has had three meetings with partners Shiv Sena and NCP (SP) for a possible alliance,” he said.
Confusion prevailed over the prospects of NCP factions, led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, joining hands for the civic polls.
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) working president Supriya Sule said no official proposal has been received for an alliance between the NCP factions.
The clarification comes after senior NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Ankush Kakade stated that both factions have in principle decided to join hands during a meeting held in Pune earlier in the day.
Maharashtra NCP (SP) president Shashikant Shinde said his party was in talks with Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray-led MNS for a tie-up for the January 15 polls to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
He said discussions were being held to bring on board all parties opposed to the BJP to put up a united fight against the lead partner in the ruling Mahayuti coalition.
Asked if the NCP, led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, will align with NCP (SP) for the Pune civic body polls, the former state minister maintained that the NCP (SP) has authorised its local units to take a call on the issue, factoring in the prevailing political situation.
The MVA consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is not a member of the MVA, but it is being wooed by Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) for a tie-up for the upcoming civic polls.
A high-profile announcement on a formal alliance between Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) and MNS, headed by his cousin Raj Thackeray, is expected on Wednesday.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut shared a picture of the Thackeray cousins, captioned "tomorrow at 12 pm".
Reacting to the tweet, BJP leader Ameet Satam downplayed the possible alliance between the Thackeray cousins, saying the tie-up will have no impact on the poll outcome.
He claimed that the people of Mumbai have decided to vote in large numbers in favour of the BJP-led Mahayuti.
Most major political parties are yet to finalise their alliances and candidates for the 227 civic wards in Mumbai, except the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The AAP has released its first list of 21 candidates and also announced a list of 40 star campaigners, including party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.
BMC commissioner and state-appointed administrator Bhushan Gagrani held a meeting with representatives of various political parties at the civic body's headquarters and briefed them on the functioning of 23 election offices set up across Mumbai to facilitate election-related work, officials said. PTI MR KK SPK NSK
