Alliance between Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS will be announced tomorrow; Sanjay Raut ahead of Municpal Corporations elections

Sanjay Raut

Ahead of the civic elections in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that the alliance between his party and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will be announced by tomorrow.

Speaking to reporters, Sanjay Raut said the alliance will be formed soon, with seat-sharing arrangements.

"The series of meetings has concluded; meetings were held between Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Our alliance will be announced by tomorrow or the day after, including details of how many seats each party will contest. Uddhav and Raj Thackeray will announce this soon," he said.

Sanjay Raut further said that efforts to bring the Congress party into the alliance are underway, as it is a "constituent party of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance."

"Our efforts to bring the Congress party along will continue until the very last moment. The Congress is a constituent party of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. We tried to convince them--we spoke to their leaders in Delhi, and we also communicated with their high command. We are still trying to persuade them, but there is no bitterness between us. Even if they are contesting separately, we are fundamentally united," he said.

Maharashtra State Election Commission has announced elections to 29 municipal corporations across the state, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). Polling will be held on January 15, with counting set to take place on January 16.

Meanwhile, the Mahayuti alliance, consisting of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, has dominated the local bodies elections for all 286 municipalities and nagar panchayats.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed gratitude to the state's people for electing the Mahayuti alliance.

"First of all, I thank the people of Maharashtra. The people of the state have given massive support to the BJP and the Mahayuti. I had already predicted that out of all the municipal council chairpersons elected, 75% would be from the Mahayuti, and the people have delivered exactly that verdict. It has also become clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party is the number one party. So far, around 129 municipal council chairpersons have been elected from the BJP. Together, all three alliance parties account for 75% of the city council chairpersons," Fadnavis said.