Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray (R) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Amid the drubbing in the first round of local bodies involving municipal councils and town panchayat elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray-headed MNS is expected to announced their alliance in the next couple of days for polls to municipals corporations including Mumbai.
Over the past few months, Uddhav, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and former Chief Minister and Raj, the MNS president, have held series of meetings since their coming together for the cause of Marathi-manoos and Marathi-bhasha after two decades.
There have been back to back family meetings as well.
“Our alliance will be announced by tomorrow or the day after, including details of how many seats each party will contest...our meetings have ended (and seat sharing is finalised)...today was the last meeting,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, who is a close aide of Uddhav and a friend of Raj.
The Sena UBT-MNS will contest the six big municipal corporations of Mumbai, Thane, Mira-Bhayandar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune and Nashik by way of seat-sharing while for the rest of the places, it has asked the local units to take a final call.
The statement of Raut comes a day after AICC general secretary Ramesh Chennithala reiterated that the Congress will go alone in Maharashtra.
“There is a demand from party workers for the Congress to contest independently in Mumbai. Except for Mumbai, discussions are underway with like-minded parties elsewhere, but wherever required, decisions regarding alliances with like-minded parties other than the BJP-led Maha Yuti will be taken at the local level,” Chennithala said.