Mumbai: Seat-sharing talks between the Shiv Sena and the BJP for the January 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections are in the final stages, Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant has said.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Sawant said it is certain that the polls will be contested by the ruling parties as Mahayuti, and exuded confidence that the alliance will come to power in the BMC, Asia’s largest civic body.
“Seat-sharing talks are in the final stages. Instead of talking about who gets how many seats, we are contesting 227 seats as Mahayuti,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Samant said some parties have allied to save their existence.
The BJP and Shiv Sena, led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, are keen on an alliance but are yet to announce the seat-sharing formula and details of their nominees. BMC has 227 civic wards.
A Sena leader had earlier said deadlock over seats persists between the two parties, and talks are still underway for civic bodies in Mira Bhayander, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan Dombivli.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra will be held on January 15. The last date to file the nominations is December 30.
In Thane, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Naresh Mhaske said a third meeting took place between his party leaders and the BJP to iron out the differences. He said there are differences over three wards and efforts are on to resolve them.
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat said seat sharing between the two parties has been almost finalised.
“If you look at Mumbai and Thane, talks are on over a few seats and now leaders (referring to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde) are discussing the issue. Shiv Sena-BJP will contest as Mahayuti in civic body polls,” Shirsat added.
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