Mumbai: Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday said that BJP will contest upcoming local bodies elections in alliance with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Mr. Bawankule also made it clear that most of the time, the local body elections are held on the feedback of the local unit of the party. But the party’s local unit is in favour of contesting the local body election as ‘Mahayuti’.
The BJP has organised a two days state executive meeting at Shirdi. The objective of the meeting is to rejuvenate party cadres for upcoming local bodies elections including Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC). Union home minister Amit Shah will sound the poll bugle for the local bodies elections in Shirdi on Sunday.
The five-year term of 29 municipal corporations, including the BMC, and other 960 local bodies, district councils in the state expired in 2022. However, the elections have been delayed due to pending court cases over OBC reservation. All these elections are expected to be held in March and April of this year.
Mr. Bawankule said that they have organised a state executive meeting to express gratitude to the people and party workers for the grand victory in the Maharashtra Assembly election. “In the meeting, 14,000 delegates of the party will attend. We will form one lakh booth committees and appoint one lakh booth presidents,” he said.
Elections would be held for 13,000 seats in the local bodies in the state. “Our party workers will contest the local bodies election with full strength and we will provide all the necessary support to them,” the state BJP chief said.
Informing about the state executive meeting, Mr. Bawankule said that Mr. Gadkari will address the concluding session of the first half, while Mr. Shah will address the last concluding session of the state executive meeting. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will also address thousands of party delegates in the meeting, he added.
In a response to a query over alliance with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for the BMC election, the state BJP chief said that it would be decided by the Mumbai BJP unit.