Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP-SP Announce Alliance For Jalgaon Municipal Polls

 Jalgaon: The alliance between Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar Faction (NCP-SP) for the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation elections was announced this evening at a press conference by Shiv Sena (UBT) Jalgaon contact leader Sanjay Sawant and NCP Sharad Pawar group's Jalgaon election in-charge, former MLA Santosh Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, seat-sharing discussions between the BJP and Shiv Sena Shinde group were also underway today at the Ajanta Rest House here.

Shiv Sena had previously announced that it would contest all the seats in the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation. The NCP Sharad Pawar group had also stated that it would contest the elections.

The Sharad Pawar group had appointed former MLA Santosh Chaudhary as the election in-charge, while Shiv Sena's contact head Sanjay Sawant is also stationed in Jalgaon.

Santosh Chaudhary and Sanjay Sawant held lengthy discussions to avoid a split in votes. Former MP Unmesh Patil, District President Kulbhushan Patil, Karan Pawar of Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP city president Eyaz Malik, and Congress leader Sharad Tayade were present on this occasion.

At the press conference this evening, Sanjay Sawant and Santosh Chaudhary announced the election alliance between the two parties. Sanjay Sawant said that they will contest all 75 seats. The NCP Sharad Pawar group will contest 37 seats, while Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest 38 seats.

He added that they will also try to include MNS, and seats will be given to them from Shiv Sena (UBT)'s quota. They also intend to include Congress, and discussions are underway regarding this; seats will be given to them from their quota. Sawant also said that there will be a large number of disgruntled individuals in the BJP and Shinde group who did not get tickets, and they will give tickets to them, but these disgruntled individuals will be thoroughly vetted.

When asked who the mayoral candidate would be, former MLA Santosh Chaudhary said that their leaders Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray will make the decision. Whatever name they suggest will be acceptable to them.

It was stated that a meeting with other parties will be held tonight to finalize the form of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. When asked why the grand alliance had not included the Ajit Pawar group in the seat-sharing discussions, it was stated that if they come forward, they too will be respectfully included, but this group has not yet made contact. Sawant and Chaudhary said that the all-round development of Jalgaon is their main goal, and they will approach the voters with this objective.

In the Jalgaon municipal elections, the seat-sharing discussions have not involved the grand alliance, but only the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction).

The current seat-sharing arrangement is 50 seats for the BJP and 25 for the Shinde faction. Party workers are unhappy that the BJP is taking only 50 seats now, when they had won 57 out of 75 seats last time. To prevent opposition, the BJP's Girish Mahajan facilitated a large number of people joining the BJP, and now this influx has become a headache for the BJP.  Also, loyal and aspiring candidates are unhappy.

Today, the BJP has over 600 aspiring candidates, and the question is who to give the tickets to. This is because a large number of disgruntled candidates are ready to switch to other parties. To prevent aspiring candidates from leaving, the BJP has continued the charade of discussions and has not yet announced the list of candidates.