Raj, Uddhav to hold joint rallies, says Raut
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said his party chief, Uddhav Thackeray and MNS president Raj Thackeray will hold joint rallies in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra for the January 15 civic polls.
Speaking to reporters, Raut also claimed that the ruling BJP’s decision to keep the Ajit Pawar-headed NCP out of the alliance in Mumbai, citing Nawab Malik’s leadership in the city, was a “farce”.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has stepped up preparations for polls to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and on Tuesday held a review meeting of its election management committee under the leadership of former minister Nawab Malik.
Its ally BJP, has opposed Malik’s appointment and distanced itself from the Ajit Pawar-led party for the Mumbai civic polls.
The NCP, BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are constituents of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Tuesday.
He later said the Sena (UBT) and MNS will join hands for the upcoming civic polls in Mumbai, Mira-Bhayander, Kalyan-Dombivli, Thane, Pune and Nashik, with a formal announcement likely in the coming week.
“Uddhav Thackeray and Raj will hold joint rallies in Mumbai and outside. It is the need of Maharashtra,” Raut said on Wednesday.
The Thackeray cousins are also likely to hold rallies in places like Pune, Nashik and Kalyan-Dombivli, he added.
“Our effort is that the Thackeray brothers reach out to maximum places and address people,” the Rajya Sabha member said.
Raut also extended best wishes to the Congress on reports of its tie-up with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.
In a dig at the Congress, he said Muslim and Dalit communities are aware that the Thackeray cousins can defeat divisive forces.
On Tuesday, Raut stated that he spoke to the top Congress leadership, urging the party to contest the civic body polls as part of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which he believes should also include the Raj Thackeray-led MNS.
However, the Congress top brass has left the matter to the local leadership to decide, he added.
High-stakes polls to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the cash-rich BMC, will see the Mahayuti and MVA battling it out for electoral supremacy in the state’s major urban centres on January 15.
Votes will be counted on January 16.
