Eknath Shinde’s Sena to ally with Opposition party NCP(SP) on Kurduvadi constituency

Uniting with the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena in a constituency for the upcoming local body elections, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) State president Shashikant Shinde said that the alliance could be a “harbinger of the future”.

While campaigning in Solapur’s Kurduvadi constituency on Wednesday, where Shiv Sena and NCP(SP) have allied, Mr. Shashikant said, “Everyone has kept in mind to finish some people from politics. A few people in politics use others for the time being and leave. This alliance in Kurduvadi can be the beginning of Maharashtra’s future.”

His remark is also seen as suggesting that a new alliance may be in the making in the State’s politics in the future. The alliance is also seen to challenge other powers in the constituency. Kurduvadi has been the stronghold of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena for the past several years, under the leadership of Dhananjay Dikole. The NCP(SP)-Shiv Sena alliance will compete with the Thackeray group, Ajit Pawar’s NCP, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the wake of upcoming local body elections, many such alliance experiments are gaining momentum. The 246 municipal councils and 42 Nagar panchayats will go for voting on December 2.

“These are grassroots level elections, and at this scale, Sharad Pawar clearly instructed to unite with anyone except the BJP. This decision is taken by the local level leaders. When limits are crossed, rebellion ignites,” he added.

Meanwhile, calling his statement a daydream, BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay said, “Shashikant Shinde doesn’t know that the three top leaders Devendraji, Eknathji, and Ajitji share a strong bond at the State level and have a great vision for Maharashtra. This election is for party functionaries, and those alliances are restricted at that level only, nothing more than that.”

Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule advised Mr. Shinde not to get his hopes high, as several unusual combinations were observed at the local level, he said. “Sharad Pawar has already made it clear that apart from BJP, joining hands with anyone is okay to defeat the BJP,” Shiv Sena(UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said, refusing to comment further on the alliance.