Mumbai: Member of legislative council (MLC) in the Maharashtra assembly and former Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap on Tuesday said that the Congress will not ally with Raj Thackeray's MNS in the ensuing BMC polls. Nor will it contest the elections in alliance with Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and instead, will contest independently, reported NDTV.
The Congress leader said the matter was discussed at a recent meeting of a newly formed committee with Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala. There has been no formal announcement, though.
Shiv Sena UBT Hits Back
Shiv Sena UBT spokesperson Anand Dubey has reacted to Jagtap's statement. "The decision on alliance will be taken by senior leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Uddhav Thackeray," he said.
"Do not challenge us. We are Shiv Sena and in the last election we contested alone and defeated the BJP. We respect our alliance partners but are also ready to contest the elections alone," Dubey added.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance has announced a massive protest march to the Election Commission office in Mumbai on November 1, alleging large-scale irregularities and bogus entries in the state’s voter list.
The announcement was made on Sunday by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, along with senior leaders Jayant Patil of the NCP (Sharad Pawar group), Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, and CPI(M) leader Prakash Reddy, during a press conference held at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai.
The Thackeray cousins are reportedly keen on coming to consensus before the election to the Brihanmumbai Corporation, the richest civic body in Asia.
