Tale Of two NCPs & Senas: Civic Polls Pit Split Parties In Battle Of Survival
Nagpur: The palpating buzz around local body polls in Maharashtra is not without reason, as for the time ever civic bodies like Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur will witness six major parties competing to take control of these municipal corporations.
Apart from national parties BJP and Congress, there are two factions each of Shiv Sena and NCP, which has added an interesting twist to the polls likely to be held later this year.
For both factions of Shiv Sena and NCP, this is going to be a litmus test as they are the only major (in terms of MPs/MLAs) regional allies within Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). All four regional outfits are keen to stave off the growing footprint of their national-level allies.
In short, it's a battle for political survival at the ground level.
And compounding the problem is speculation of cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray joining hands ahead of the polls, apart from rumours that both NCP factions too may unite.
Prashant Pawar, Nagpur city president (NCP-Ajit), said, "Whether or not the parties merge is known only to two people. Ajit dada and Sharad Pawar saheb. We all don't even think about it as the focus is just to work for the party."
He added that last year's assembly polls have proved that NCP (Ajit) faction is the one which people favour. "All the major leaders are in our faction. Apart from this, people have seen the work that Ajit dada has done. People are fully behind us," said Pawar.
Mangesh Kashikar, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader from Nagpur, too added that their faction has proven its 'worth'. Kashikar said, "Check how many MLAs we have and how many they have.
And even now, there are many leaders on the waiting list who are going to join us."
About regional parties fighting for political turf in Nagpur, NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Duneshwar Pethe said, "It has been just over a year since the NCP split. Before that, everything was done by NCP under the leadership of Sharad Pawar Saheb. Is it not a shame that the water problem exists in Nagpur despite BJP being in power for the last 15 years in the civic body, and over a decade in the state? People have told us that they are fed up with Mahayuti and want things to change.
We will solve issues related to school fees and garbage collection. English medium schools will be started in NMC to ensure free education for kids. We need to plan out hawkers' zones so that traffic management is also smooth. Just making flyovers does not increase the beauty of the city."
Shiv Sena UBT leader Nitin Tiwari said, "People will trust us with their votes because they know that Sena UBT has been at the forefront, fighting for the rights of Nagpurians.
We have carried out multiple andolans, exposed corruption by contractors in civic body affairs, and questioned the deterioration of infrastructure in the city. Our party will transform the way the city functions by providing transparent and efficient governance.
"
His party colleague Kishore Kumeriya said, "Shiv Sainik's real DNA is the teachings of Balasaheb Thackeray, and they are the ones who are in UBT. Shiv Sena runs only because of the foot soldiers, and Sena UBT is filled with grassroot level workers.
Also, people have seen the amazing work done by Uddhav Thackeray during his tenure as CM, and that also has an impact on the party image."
Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader Kashikar said, "Our party is full of leaders who have not only come from UBT but also from other parties. Our strength is growing by the day and in the next week some other big names are joining. Statistically, we had only two seats in NMC so there really is not much to lose. And our study tells us that this time we will bag 12 seats."
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