SHIV SENA-NCP AWAITS CONGRESS NOMINEE FOR PUNE ALLIANCE

Mumbai: The civic body in Maharashtra’s cultural capital, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will face elections soon. However, a lack of coordination between the MVA allies (Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress) may adversely impact their efforts to dislodge the BJP that rules the roost there.

“Pune district is an important segment, not just from the perspective of the PMC elections, but also since it effectively covers 3.5 Lok Sabha parliamentary constituencies. The Shiv Sena has appointed me to take responsibility for Pune for the forthcoming civic elections as well as further electoral hustings in this crucial political space. While NCP has also similarly designated its man for the purpose of coordinating a common cause to wrest the PMC from the BJP, we are still waiting for the Congress to appoint its nominee,” Shiv Sena leader Sachin Ahir confirmed.

Pune City Congress Chief Ramesh Bagwe conceded that the Congress was still to nominate a representative.

“Our Maharashtra president Nana Patole appointed a core committee a fortnight ago. This committee includes 15-16 members comprising ex-MLAs and eminent people’s representatives belonging to the Maratha, Muslim, SC, ST and OBC communities. If regional issues are not satisfactorily resolved by this core committee, led by senior Congress MLA Sangram Thopte (from Bhor assembly constituency), then they will be escalated to the state president,” he said.

While Bagwe conceded that there were a few factions existing within the Congress party in the Pune region, he said Thopte could coordinate with the Sena’s and NCP’s nominees on the common cause of ousting the BJP from the PMC.

“We decided in our just concluded twoday Nav Sankalp Shivir (held in Pune), as well as its earlier edition held in Udaipur, that if the Narendra Modi government is to be defeated, then all secular parties have to come together,” he said.

However, BJP’s Vyapari Cell Chief Mahendra Jain points out to the existing fissures in the MVA government. “It has been made amply clear by Congress Maharashtra president Nana Patole that his party is keen to contest local body elections such as to the Pune Municipality on its own steam. That the party is yet to appoint its Pune coordinator to combine efforts with its alliance partners is proof of the Congress being disinclined to an alliance arrangement in the region,” he said.