Civic polls: Cong to take call on alliances after Senas’ rally

Mumbai/New Delhi: The Congress will take a decision on whether to contest the ensuing civic and zilla parishad elections under the banner of the Maha Vikas Aghadi or independently after the July 5 joint rally of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS led by Raj Thackeray.AICC general secretary Ramesh Chennithala, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad and MPCC president Harshawardhan Sapkal have convened a meeting on July 7 to take a call on the strategy for the elections.“We are carefully watching the political situation in the state. We are meeting on July 7 to decide the future strategy. Certainly it will depend on the view of local and field leaders, their views will be taken into consideration before taking any decision on contesting the elections unitedly or independently,” Chennithala said.

Leaders from Maharashtra met the AICC for a day-long meeting chaired by Chennithala. Seeking views of senior members, which included Congress biggies in assembly and MPs besides AICC office-bearers, the party saw a mixed bag on the question of going into the polls with Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP). Congress contested the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly polls with the two partners as part of MVA.

A Congress leader said that until recently, the political situation in the state was different, with LS and assembly polls contested under the MVA. The MVA had done well in the LS elections, but in the subsequent assembly pols, MVA faced a massive debacle.The situation has changed after the state govt’s three-language policy move and its “Hindi” GRs. “The opposition was so strong that the warring Thackeray brothers unexpectedly joined hands to oppose the proposal.

Ultimately, Fadnavis had to drop the proposal, but in the process, the Thackeray brothers came together and now they have organized a joint victory rally on July 5 in Mumbai. We are waiting for their announcement, we will take a call on contesting the elections after their meeting,” a senior Congress leader said.A senior Congress leader however said irrespective of the decision of the Thackeray brothers, the Congress is prepared to contest the civic and zilla parishad polls on its own.On the BMC polls, Congress’s Mumbai leaders are learnt to have demanded that the party contest it separately. It was argued by some that votes of Sena (UBT) do not shift to Congress in a pact, even though Congress votes are transferred to the ally.

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