Fadnavis Confident Of Mahayuti’s Unity In Civic Polls
Civic elections to all 29 Maharashtra municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Amravati, were stalled for nearly five years.
Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday informed that ‘Mahayuti’ will contest municipal elections in the state as an alliance. He said that there could be isolated exceptions where alliance partners contest separately, but even in such cases, they will not criticise each other and focus on positive campaigns.
Civic elections to all 29 Maharashtra municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Amravati, were stalled for nearly five years. The elections were not held because of the issue of OBC reservation pending before the Supreme Court. However, the SC on May 6 directed the state Election Commission to notify local body elections within four weeks.
Mr. Fadnavis said his government will try to conduct civic elections in time and said that the Mahayuti alliance partners will contest the polls together. BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP are part of ‘Mahayuti’. Mr. Fadanvis also said where a seat-sharing arrangement is not feasible, the constituents may contest independently, but will not target each other.
“We will try to conduct the civic elections on time in the state. In case the monsoon is more intense in some regions, we will seek an extension from the Election Commission of 15-20 days if need arises,” Mr. Fadanvis said.
Reiterating that the Mahayuti will contest the civic polls as a cohesive unit, the Maharashtra CM said, “In exceptional cases, if there is a possibility that we have to go solo, we will do so. However, we will ensure that the alliance partners refrain from criticising each another during campaigning. Our thrust will largely be on to contest the local body elections together as Mahayuti.”
Mr. Fadnavis was in Pune to attend a workshop of civic commissioners and municipal council chief officers. He said the workshop is a part of their continuous journey towards a more transparent, efficient, and citizen-centric governance system. “We believe that increasing the use of e-governance is key to achieving this transformation, along with enhancing overall administrative efficiency,” he said.
