Mumbai The day Congress leaders said they are in favour of going solo in the upcoming local body polls, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is looking to hold an alliance with Shiv Sena for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
On Thursday, the party discussed the possibilities and the seats that can be sought in the alliance.
To decide the party’s strategy for the upcoming local body polls, Rajya Sabha polls and legislative council elections, NCP chief Sharad Pawar held a meeting of ministers and senior party leaders at YB Chavan Centre on Thursday.
“The party leadership is in favour of contesting the BMC polls in alliance with Shiv Sena, which is ruling the corporation at present. This will be the first time NCP will join hands with Sena for BMC if things materialise and both the parties reach a seat-sharing agreement,” said a senior NCP leader privy to the development.
“Pawar saheb discussed the seats that can be sought in the seat-sharing agreement between the two ruling parties. Both the working presidents of the Mumbai unit — Narendra Rane and Rakhi Jadhav — were also called for the meeting,” he added.
“Going by the current scenario, NCP and Congress can come together in Thane, whereas all three parties can together contest Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune civic bodies. However, it all depends upon how things unfold in the coming days,” said a senior NCP minister, wishing not to be named.
In its two-day Nav Sankalp workshop held at Shirdi, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that the party is in favour of going alone in the local body polls, with possible adjustments at the local level.
Meanwhile, NCP has decided to request the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to hold an all-party meeting for caste-based census, a demand raised by the NCP chief recently.
“A caste-based census has become the need of the hour in the country, which the NCP has been demanding. On behalf of the party, I will meet and request the chief minister to call an all-party meeting on this issue,” Jayant Patil, state NCP president, told reporters.
Amid uncertainty over reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the upcoming local body elections in the state, last week Pawar pitched for nationwide caste-based census for the community, which is one of the major reasons behind scrapping of the OBC quota by the Supreme Court last year. Pawar has said that the central government should initiate the caste-based census and resolve the issue of OBC population in the country forever.