Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Shinde decided at a late-night meeting on Monday that the ruling parties will contest these polls as members of the existing Mahayuti alliance, the sources said.
The dates for the municipal corporation elections are yet to be announced.
At the meeting attended by BJP leaders Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Ravindra Chavan in Nagpur, where the winter session of the state legislature is underway, it was also agreed that the BJP and Shiv Sena will not poach each other’s leaders and workers, they added.
“There was a positive discussion between the leaders of the two parties regarding contesting municipal elections across Maharashtra, including Mumbai and Thane, together as Mahayuti alliance,” said a Shiv Sena leader.
Discussions for seat-sharing will start at the local level in the next two to three days, another leader said.
In a separate meeting on Monday, Shinde told his party’s MLAs and ministers that the Mahayuti will put up a united fight in the municipal corporation and zilla parishad polls. He also advised them to follow the “alliance dharma” and refrain from making any statement or doing anything that would lead to a conflict within the Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Sena, and NCP, sources said.
The first phase of the local body polls saw Mahayuti allies contesting against each other at many places. In some cases, the campaign became acerbic, prompting Shinde to raise the issue with the top leadership of the BJP.
Sources indicated that the two parties have chalked out a broad strategy for the municipal polls and will issue directives to their local office-bearers to move forward with alliance discussions at the ground level.
Talks related to the MahaYuti alliance are expected to gain momentum at the local units as both sides push to resolve differences linked to municipal elections.
