Fadnavis, Shinde agree to jointly contest Maharashtra civic polls as Mahayuti

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday held a oneandahalfhour closeddoor meetingDuring 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 releaseState BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and senior Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Chavan were also present at the meetingAs per Shiv Senas official release there was positive discussion between leaders of both parties on contesting the civic polls jointly as MahayutiIn the next two to three days locallevel discussions will begin among leaders for each municipal corporation to finalise seatsharing and related mattersIt has also been agreed that officebearers and workers from the BJP and Shiv Sena will not be allowed to switch to each otherrsquos partiesThe primary contest in the Maharashtra local body elections is expected to be between the two major alliances the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi MVAThe Mahayuti Ruling Coalition alliance is in power at the state level with its key constituents being the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP the Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP Ajit Pawar factionThe main opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi includes the Indian National Congress INC Shiv Sena UBT Uddhav Thackeray faction Nationalist Congress Party NCP Sharad Pawar faction or NCPSP as well as other contesting partiesMahayuti will contest upcoming civic and Zill Parishad polls together ShindeMeanwhile the Mahayuti will put up a united fight in the upcoming municipal corporation and zilla parishad polls Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on MondayHe advised MLAs and ministers of his party to follow the alliance dharma and refrain from making any statements or behaviour that would lead to a conflict in the Mahayuti alliance of BJP Sena and NCPAddressing Shiv Sena MLAs and ministers in Nagpur Shinde said the party contested elections for the post of presidents in 168 municipal councils and 4000 councillorsHe said the atmosphere was very conducive for Shiv Sena in the first phase of local body polls voting for which was held on December 2 and that the party put up a good fight The results will also be good for the party he addedThe municipal corporation and zilla parishad polls will be contested as a Mahayuti alliance Follow the alliance dharma Do not make any controversial statement or do anything that will cause a conflict in the alliance said ShindeThe first phase of the Maharashtra local body elections saw Mahayuti allies contesting against each other at many places in MaharashtraIn some cases the campaign became acerbic prompting Shinde to raise the issue with the top leadership of the BJPShinde said there may have been some disputes during the first phase of polls but the matter stands closed