Shiv Sena, BJP to have tie-up for municipal elections in Mumbai, elsewhere

After days of bickering, the ruling allies BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena have decided to contest the elections to municipal corporations in Maharashtra including Mumbai and Thane as an alliance, Sena sources claimed on Tuesday.

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-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.