The Shiv Sena has not hidden its ambition to go national. After a flop show in the recent Bihar Assembly elections, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi partner in the state plans to contest the Panchayat elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Uttar Pradesh by joining hands with Congress party. Panchayat polls are considered to be a semi-final before the Assembly elections in UP that is slated for March-April next year.
Shiv Sena's state president in Uttar Pradesh Anil Singh said that the party is in the midst of appointing in-charges for the panchayat elections after conducting a district-wise review. Applications are being invited from all the districts. Apart from this, the Shiv Sena delegation will meet key leaders of the organisation in Maharashtra and inform them about the preparations for the elections.
Sena’s move comes after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Akhil Bharatiya Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have already announced to contest the panchayat elections in UP.
UP state Sena office bearers will be sent to Maharashtra to know the details of election management and understand party’s working in BMC and rural areas. After returning from there, training camps will be organised. Thereafter, the candidates will be selected and fielded.
Singh said in the last elections 16 Zilla Panchayat members and more than 150 Pradhans from Shiv Sena were elected. “Sena MP Arvind Sawant will arrive in the state on January 16 to take stock of poll preparations and hold talks with Congress for an alliance,” he noted.
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