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Mumbai, Oct 18 (IANS) Amid talk of growing closeness and alliance between his estranged brother Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray during the upcoming local and civic body elections in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday said Shiv Sena UBT and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will form an alliance for the Thane Municipal Corporation elections and get at least 75 seats.
He was speaking to reporters in Thane in response to the BJP’s slogan, “Ab ki baar 70 paar”.
Raut said, “Shiv Sena, UBT and MNS together will contest the Thane municipal elections and we will come to power. Our slogan is that we will cross 75 seats. The Thackeray brothers will create a storm.”
His announcement comes five days after both Shiv Sena, UBT and MNS organized a joint front and rally in Thane to raise key issues. Moreover, Raut’s announcement comes when the two Thackerays are yet to take a final decision on the alliance to jointly contest the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other 28 civic bodies and local body elections in the state.
Both the brothers have increased their formal and informal meetings, which is causing a stir in the political circles of the state. On Friday, Uddhav Thackeray and his family went to Chhatrapati Maharaj Shivaji Park to inaugurate the Diwali lights organized by MNS founder Raj Thackeray.
Thane is the hometown of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, but has traditionally been a Shiv Sena stronghold. After Shinde’s rebellion in June 2022, a large number of officials and elected representatives left Uddhav Thackeray and joined the Shinde camp. Since then, Shinde has been taking decisions while strengthening his hold in the party organization.
Raut’s decision to announce the alliance between Shiv Sena UBT and MNS comes at a time when Shiv Sena and BJP are talking about fighting alone in the Thane Municipal Corporation elections. When the office strongly advocated for fighting municipal and local body elections separately in Thane, the two held meetings.
The ruling allies are currently making every possible effort to gain supremacy in the Thane municipal body.
To know the mood of the public, Shinde and BJP minister Ganesh Naik are holding separate Janata Darbars. In the 2017 elections, BJP and undivided Shiv Sena contested the elections independently.
Shiv Sena had won 67 out of 131 seats and BJP had won 23 seats.
Reacting to Raut’s announcement, the BJP MLA from Thane Assembly said that the decision regarding the alliance between the BJP and the Shinde camp will be taken at the appropriate time.
–IANS
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