No proposal yet to include MNS in MVA: Maha Congress chief

Mumbai: Ahead of local body elections, the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) met and announced that there is no proposal yet to include the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) into the alliance.

State Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal also said, “I have already stated before as the state president that we will take a decision through discussions.”

His statement comes a day after the party denied any tie-up with MNS in Nashik for local and civic body elections after the announcement was made by the local leaders on Monday.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray was part of the Opposition delegation that recently met the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and State Election Commissioner (SEC) to highlight errors in the electoral rolls, especially with regard to duplicate and bogus voters.

The MNS chief was also present in the Opposition’s protest organised on November 1 on the same issue. However, Sapkal chose to keep himself away from the morcha and he was conspicuous by his absence during meetings with the CEO and SEC.

Congress insiders said that the decision on getting MNS on board will be taken after the outcome of the Bihar Assembly elections.

State NCP chief Shashikant Shinde after the meeting told reporters, “No such proposal has come before the Maha Vikas Aghadi yet of including MNS. If such a proposal comes, we will sit together and discuss it and take a decision.”

The statements by Shinde and Sapkal are important as Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has already announced that he and MNS chief Raj Thackeray have come together to stay together and hinted that they would together contest the upcoming elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.

Apart from Shinde and Sapkal, NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Anil Parab were also present at the MVA meeting.

On the issue of MVA allies fighting the local and civic body elections in an alliance, Sapkal told reporters that, “It was decided in today’s meeting that if there are any differences within the MVA or if there is a need to discuss candidates, a coordination committee would be formed and it will be authorised to take decisions.

“There will be a state-level coordination committee of our allies and the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the coordinators of each party will be in it. If there is any difficulty or disagreement, this committee will be given the authority to find a way out and take decisions. A detailed discussion took place at today’s meeting on how to face the upcoming elections.”

Sapkal further stated “We are together as Maha Vikas Aghadi and India Alliance. We have fought the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections together. We are ready to fight elections together in the future as well. We are working hand in hand to take on BJP in the state and the country.”

Sapkal said, “November 17 is the last date to file nominations for the Nagar Panchayat and Municipal elections. After that, we will come together again and discuss. If a proposal regarding MNS comes at that time, we will discuss it.”

IANS