NASHIK: Although there is enough time left for the upcoming Nashik municipal elections, the political atmosphere in the city, however, is beginning to heat up. While the senior leaders of the ruling Mahavikas Aghadi are uniting against the BJP, the office bearers and activists at the local level are, however, blowing the trumpet of going solo in the civic body polls. In Nashik, the NCP has signalled at going solo – ‘Ekla Chalo Re’ while on the other hand, the Shiv Sena and the Congress, the alliance partners in the Mahavikas Aghadi government are yet to respond and make their stand clear.
The discussion is going on in the political circles that the NCP is playing the card of ‘pressure tactics’. Dozens of local body elections, including that of Mumbai, Nashik, and Pune, are scheduled in the next one and a half years. Prior to that, Kolhapur Municipal Corporation elections are scheduled to be held in the next few months. The NCP has given the slogan of ‘Ekla Chalo Re there signalling at an independent fight. The same tune is being seen in Nashik as well.
Therefore, while the senior leaders of the three parties in the Mahavikas Aghadi are preparing to unite against the BJP, at the local level, the NCP leaders are preparing for going solo in the upcoming municipal elections. While on the other hand, Shiv Sena and Congress are also preparing for the polls with or without its NCP ally. However, if we look at the history of Nashik Municipal Corporation, with the exception of BJP, no party has managed to hoist the party flag of power on ‘Ramayan’.
BJP had won 66 seats in the 122-member municipal corporation. Even NCP’s heavyweight leader Chhagan Bhujbal could not stop the Lotus from bloom despite being in power. Also, despite the charisma of Raj Thackeray, the engine did not run more than 39 corporators in the 2012 elections. Even Shiv Sena has not been able to grab the power on its own till today. In the last election, due to the Modi factor and power in the state, BJP had earned a good share of votes in the Municipal Corporation. Therefore, it could grab power on its own.
This year too, the BJP is preparing to go solo in the upcoming civil body polls. On the other hand, instead of contesting the elections as a Mahavikas front, the local NCP leaders are chanting the slogan of an independent contest. The political pundits say that what is NCP is preparing for is a part of pressure tactics to grab more seats in its kitty in the future seat-sharing pact.
