Maharashtra CM will sound poll bugle for Aurangabad civic corporation

Mumbai: Chief Minister of the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray, will roar at his next megapublic address to be held in Aurangabad on June 08. He is expected to take on his political detractors--the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)--both of whom have launched into election mode already to snatch power from the Sena in the district’s municipal corporation.

The Aurangabad municipality will also go to polls along with Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation any time after September this year.

After a show of strength through his public address at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the CM’s planned public rally in Aurangabad was prompted after the MNS and BJP launched their respective public campaigns over water scarcity in the city since a couple of days ago.

A meeting at the party headquarters--Sena Bhavan--on Monday afternoon witnessed MPs, MLAs, MLCs and senior leaders from the Marathwada region chalk out strategies to maintain the Sena’s hold over the civic body in Aurangabad, located in the district capital of the Marathwada region, which has always faced water scarcity.

The BJP launched a Jal Akrosh Morcha in the city while MNS chief Raj Thackeray has been taunting the Sena over its inability to rename the city as Sambhajinagar and on the issue of Mughal king Aurangzeb’s tomb located here. The June 08 rally will serve to blunt the strong attack launched by the opposition and may also feature plain speaking by CM Thackeray, which may lead to a divided MVA house, as the Congress and NCP are against the renaming for fear of alienating the large Muslim population in the district.

Similarly, the Chief Minister is expected to address the concerns of the local population over water scarcity and also on the tomb of Aurangzeb at the public meeting.