BJP eyeing Shiv Sena's 'Marathi Votes', 'HIDDEN co-operation' with Raj Thackeray visible before Municipal Elections

For the past few days, there have been talks about Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and BJP coming together in the upcoming municipal elections. Since the BJP leadership is meeting Raj Thackeray, there was a possibility that an official announcement would be made soon in view of this growing closeness. In the meantime, MNS General Secretary Sandeep Deshpande has made an indicative statement. While talking to the media in Mumbai, he gave the information that Raj Thackeray has asked the party members to start preparations for contesting the elections in all the municipalities.

MNS Meeting

Sandeep Deshpande was asked about the MNS meeting. After the discussion in the meeting, will Eknath Shinde make an alliance with the group? When asked about this, he said, “It was an internal meeting of the MNS. Can't divulge to the media what was discussed there. We are also seeing news about an alliance with the Shinde group, but as per Raj Thackeray, all office bearers are preparing to contest all the seats in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Sambhajinagar and other municipalities".

Preparations for Election

When asked about an alliance with the Shinde group or BJP, Sandeep Deshpande reiterated that, currently, Raj Thackeray has ordered to make preparations to contest all the seats. "Our party's decisions are taken by Raj Thackeray, not BJP. According to the order given by Raj Thackeray, all office bearers and branch presidents are preparing to contest all the seats," he said. He further added, "Earlier too, between 200 and 227 seats were contested. In 2006, 2012, 2017, we contested all the seats with all our strength. Similarly, this time we are also preparing to contest 227 seats. Preparations are underway and orders are coming from Raj Thackeray from time to time".

Alliance with BJP

It is reported that the BJP has decided to secretly cooperate with MNS for the upcoming Mumbai municipal elections. Accordingly, the BJP is proposing to leave 80-90 seats for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's group, and the BJP is of the view that they should form an alliance with the MNS and give them their share of seats. It is understood that the final decision will be taken in due course after the picture becomes clear in the court battle. However, the BJP is not ready to form a direct alliance with MNS. BJP's strategy is that Shiv Sena and MNS should not come together and MNS should be used to break Shiv Sena's Marathi vote base.

Shiv Sena's Marathi Votes

The BJP has announced that they want to contest elections in alliance with the Shinde group. Whether the Shinde group gets the bow and arrow symbol and how many corporators from the Shiv Sena will come to the Shinde group will decide how many seats to leave. Since it is not possible for the BJP to make a separate alliance with the MNS and leave them a seat, a strategy of hidden cooperation has been planned. Therefore, it has been decided that they should leave 80-90 seats as an alliance with the Shinde group and, according to the strength in the wards, the Shinde group should leave the seats for MNS candidates. Although the MNS does not have good candidates in many seats, there are indications that the BJP is using them to divide Shiv Sena's Marathi votes. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is understood to have assured the concerned that BJP will not field candidates in those seats where MNS can get elected.