Pune: NCP (SP) Maharashtra unit president Shashikant Shinde on Friday said neither his party nor the Ajit Pawar-led ruling NCP have sent any proposal to each other for an alliance in the upcoming municipal corporation elections.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations in the state, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on January 15, while the counting of votes will take place the next day.
Over the last few days, speculations were rife that the two factions - Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and Ajit Pawar's NCP - may come together and forge a pre-poll alliance for the local bodies elections.
While the NCP (SP) is in the Opposition along with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the NCP is part of the ruling Mahayuti combine along with the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Shashikant Shinde visited the NCP (SP) office in the city, where he met the party office-bearers.
NCP (SP) Maharashtra Unit President Shashikant Shinde's Statement
"Today, a meeting of our party was held in Pune with poll aspirants and office-bearers. A total of 277 people submitted applications for the civic body polls (in Pune). For the past few days, there have been talks of a possible political alignment between the two NCPs. But even now, NCP (SP) has been holding talks with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies to contest the polls together. New friends, including the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), are also willing to come together," he said.
"There are many options but discussions are still underway. Everyone has the right to express their opinion. At present, discussions are continuing as MVA. By tomorrow, the core committee will discuss it. The decision will be announced soon," he added.
"So far, no proposal has come from Ajit Pawar's side nor have we sent any. (Sharad) Pawar Saheb, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil and I will discuss the issue together and make a decision. First, discussions will be held with alliance partners and then a decision will be taken. In Pune, some people are saying we should fight the polls as MVA, while others feel that another option should be kept open," Shinde said.
The authority to decide how many seats should be contested has been given to local leaders. The expectation is to get a respectable number of seats, according to him.
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