Consensus eludes Thackeray cousins, Shiv Sena-BJP over seat sharing for BMC polls

Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) Consensus on seat sharing for the January 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections eluded both the Thackeray cousins and the BJP-Shiv Sena camps, as leaders from the respective parties held hectic parleys on Saturday.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) under Raj Thackeray haven’t yet declared their lists of candidates for the civic polls in the city.

Similarly, the BJP and Shiv Sena, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, are yet to share the details of their nominees. BMC has 227 civic wards.

During the day, MNS leaders Bala Nandgaonkar, Nitin Sardesai and Sandeep Deshpande met Uddhav Thackeray to iron out differences over wards in the Mahim assembly segment, which covers areas like Dadar and Prabhadevi where both parties are influential.

Talking to reporters, Nandgaonkar said some seats had to be exchanged, for which he met Uddhav. He said there will be another round of meetings with him on Saturday night, after which the seat-sharing talks will reach the final stage.

Nandgaonkar said MNS, which has contested all polls independently, is new to seat-sharing talks.

Between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, deadlocks over seats persist, said a Sena leader, adding that talks between the two parties, which are parts of the ruling Mahayuti coalition, are still underway for the civic bodies in Mira Bhayander, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan Dombivli.

The case wasn’t much different with the NCP, led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).

Talks between the two parties over a possible alliance for Pune civic polls appear to have hit a dead end, with the NCP not agreeing to the Sharad Pawar-led party’s proposal for contesting the elections on their respective poll symbols.

Elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including Mumbai and Pune, will be held on January 15. The last date to file the nominations is December 30. PTI PR NR