Amit Shah to begin 3-day Maharashtra visit ahead of local body polls

Mumbai: The BJP-led MahaYuti-NDA’s preparation for the forthcoming local bodies polls in Maharashtra gets a major boost with a three-day tour of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah.

Though the State Election Commission is yet to announce its election schedule, earlier this month, the Supreme Court has asked local body polls within four months.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in presence of his two deputies - Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde and NCP President Ajit Pawar - announced that the MahaYuti, as a principle, would go together in the polls barring some exceptions.

The local bodies polls were held around a year after the 2024 Vidhan Sabha polls when the MahaYuti bagged 230-plus seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

This is the first visit of Shah after the Pahalgam terrorist strike on tourists and the subsequent Operation Sindoor and mounting international pressure on Pakistan. Besides, it coincides when the central and state forces are dealing heavy blows against the outlawed Maoists in the Naxalite-affected Red Corridor.

The timing of the three-day visit, beginning Sunday, is politically important for Maharashtra because of the churning that is happening - talks of merger between Ajit Pawar-led NCP and NCP (SP) headed by the party’s founder Sharad Pawar and a possible alliance between Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray and MNS led by Raj Thackeray.

During the three-days Shah would visit Nagpur, Nanded and Mumbai.

Shah is expected to have closed-door meetings with state leadership including Fadnavis, state BJP President and Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and state BJP Working President Ravindra Chavan.

Besides, he is also expected to have informal meetings with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.

During the local bodies elections, all the 29 municipal corporations including Mumbai would go to polls. This is the first major test for the ruling alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi after the Assembly polls. The BJP is working hard to have its Mayor in Mumbai - which would give it a tremendous edge.

In Nagpur, Shah would perform bhoomi poojan for the Swasti Nivas guest house at the National Cancer Institute in Jamtha and lay the foundation stone for the permanent campus of the National Forensic Sciences University at Chincholi in Kamptee.

In Nanded, where he will unveil a statue of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik at Vasantrao Naik Chowk, Anand Nagar and inaugurate facilities at Nana-Nani Park in the Industrial Area. He would also address a public rally in Nanded, which is the bastion of Rajya Sabha member and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who had left Congress last year to join BJP.

In Mumbai, Shah would attend the 150th anniversary celebration of the iconic Laxmi Narayan Temple at Madhavbaug Complex and deliver a keynote address at the Jahangir Hall to mark the 60th death anniversary of Hindutva icon and revolutionary freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.