Mahayuti allies go separate ways ahead of Jalna Municipal Corporation polls

Jalna, Dec 30 (PTI) After weeks of intense negotiations over seat-sharing, the Mahayuti alliance appears to have broken down ahead of Jalna Municipal Corporation (JMC) elections in Maharashtra with partners deciding to contest the January 15 polls independently.

The collapse became evident on Tuesday, the final day for filing nomination forms, with alliance partners -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) -- deciding to contest the polls independently.

The NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, a key Mahayuti partner, on Monday night announced its decision to go solo, alleging its strength was being consistently neglected by its BJP and Shiv Sena.

Speaking to media persons, NCP Jalna district president and former MLA Arvind Chavan said BJP and Shiv Sena leaders were holding seat-sharing meetings without inviting representatives from his party.

"We were not given due respect. Our party was ignored despite its organisational strength. Hence, we have decided to contest the elections independently and demonstrate our strength," Chavan said.

On the last day of nominations, both BJP and Shiv Sena fielded candidates in all 65 seats in the JMC.

January 2 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

BJP leader and former MLA Kailash Gorantyal said although a seat-sharing formula had initially been discussed, disagreements arose when the Shiv Sena insisted on contesting certain seats claimed by his party.

"As no consensus could be reached, we have decided to contest the elections independently," Gorantyal said.

In contrast, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP) -- has already finalised its seat-sharing arrangement.

According to sources, the Congress has been allotted AB forms (given to official party candidates) for 42 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) for 12 seats, and NCP (SP) for 11.

With the Mahayuti split and multiple parties entering the fray independently, the JMC elections are expected to witness a keenly contested multi-cornered fight.

Jalna is one of the 29 municipal corporations going to polls on January 15. PTI COR RSY