Nashik netas of MVA & MNS plan to team up for local polls

Nashik: Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners in Nashik district, alongside Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), jointly announced a decision on Monday to contest the upcoming civic polls — including those to the municipal councils, zilla parishad, panchayat samitis and municipal corporation — aiming to defeat BJP and other Mahayuti partners. However, this announcement immediately faced internal dissent from Congress as its state chief Harshwardhan Sapkal and spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the party brass has not taken any official decision to align with MNS in Nashik. Sapkal further said that show-cause notices would be issued to party functionaries in Nashik who attended the meeting regarding the proposed alliance.Earlier on Monday, the decision was announced by MVA and MNS's district-level functionaries from Nashik during a joint press conference. They also demanded that the Election Commission of India conduct the polls using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and rectify duplicate names in the electoral rolls to ensure free and fair polling.Regarding seat sharing, the functionaries said decisions would be based on the winnability of candidates and the local dominance of respective parties.Prominent figures present at the press meet included Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Rahul Dive, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Vasant Gite, district president D G Suryawanshi, MNS state general secretary Dinkar Patil, NCP (SP) state vice-president Gokul Pingle and CPM's D L Karad."We need to keep democracy alive. Hence, MVA partners and MNS decided to contest all the civic polls in Nashik district jointly to defeat BJP, NCP, and Shiv Sena," said Dinkar Patil, the state general secretary of MNS.Dive said they decided to contest all the civic polls jointly in Nashik district. In fact, it is also the policy of the party to make decisions about poll alliances at the local level. "We need to unite if we are to halt the communal forces and defeat them in the coming civic polls. We will send the proposal to our party office for its approval," Dive said.Gite, a senior office-bearer of Shiv Sena (UBT) and former MLA, said MVA and MNS will contest the civic polls jointly. "There have been many issues people are facing, from poor road conditions to traffic congestion, farmers' distress, workers' issues, and unemployment, among others. Hence, we need to defeat the Mahayuti partners in the coming civic polls," said Gite.Nashik city chief of NCP (SP) Gajanan Shelar said it was decided to make decisions about the alliance at the local level. "We all have decided to contest the upcoming civic polls jointly," he said.Karad, a senior office-bearer of CPM in Nashik, said seat sharing will be based on the winnability of candidates and the local dominance of respective parties.