In a significant political development ahead of the crucial Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections, the city functionaries of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance have officially declared a united front. The coalition, comprising the Congress, the NCP (SP), and the Shiv Sena (UBT), announced on Monday that they will contest the upcoming civic polls together with the primary objective of keeping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power.
MVA Holds Joint Strategy Meeting
Senior leaders from the three allied parties convened for a joint meeting on Monday to chalk out their election strategy. They emphasized that the MVA would make concerted efforts to prevent a BJP victory in the city. The functionaries also revealed that discussions are ongoing with other significant political forces, including the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), to form a broader anti-BJP coalition for the PMC battle.
Congress city unit chief Arvind Shinde stated that this initial meeting was focused on discussing poll strategies. He confirmed that the state-level leadership of the Congress has greenlit local-level discussions for collaboration with MVA partners. "More such meetings will be held in the days to come," Shinde said. He asserted that the MVA's prime focus is to keep the BJP out, framing it as a fight against the party's alleged corrupt practices. "Many tenders were sanctioned in PMC in haste without proper scrutiny. We will be reaching out to citizens with details of BJP's corrupt practices," he added.
Positive Talks with MNS and Internal Unity
While the attendees did not explicitly confirm the MNS's formal entry into the alliance, Shiv Sena (UBT) city unit heads Sanjay More and Gajanan Tharkude indicated positive progress. They disclosed that preliminary talks with the MNS, held on Sunday, concluded on an optimistic note. "We will hold more discussions. Details will be shared at the appropriate time," both leaders remarked.
Furthermore, political circles in Pune were abuzz with talks of unity between the NCP factions. Prashant Jagtap, the city leader of NCP (SP), clarified his party's position on Monday, stating they would proceed with the MVA partners. "NCP (SP) was always in favour of fighting the polls as an MVA unit. There is a common agenda to provide an alternative as citizens are fed up with BJP's false promises and corrupt practices," Jagtap said. He also criticized the performance of the BJP-led state government, claiming dissatisfaction among Pune's residents.
Roadmap: Tickets, Campaigns, and Rallies
The alliance functionaries plan to use upcoming joint meetings to iron out critical operational details. Key issues on the agenda include the distribution of tickets among the partners, formulating cohesive campaign strategies, and planning joint rallies. This coordinated approach is aimed at presenting a formidable challenge to the BJP in the Pune Municipal Corporation elections.
