Sanjay Raut (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will contest the upcoming civic polls in Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nashik together, with a formal announcement expected next week, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday.Also Read: Seat-sharing talks between Sena (UBT) & MNS for PMC polls from WednesdayThe move would bring together estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, who head Sena (UBT) and the MNS, respectively. Raj formed the MNS in 2006 after leaving the undivided Shiv Sena.The two leaders have been warming up to each other after facing a drubbing in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls.”There is no problem in announcing the alliance in the coming week. Both the brothers will be seen on stage for the announcement,” Raut told reporters in Mumbai.
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Also Read: Sena (UBT) may share seats with MNS from its quota for civic polls to skirt strain in MVA”The two parties will come together for civic polls in major cities like Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira Bhayander, Pune and Nashik. However, decision on the tie-up in other civic bodies will be taken by the local units,” the Rajya Sabha member added.Raut, who also met Raj Thackeray earlier in the day, described Mumbai as the “real battle” among the 29 municipal corporations going to the polls on January 15, with counting scheduled for the following day. Mumbai, Maharashtra’s capital and the country’s financial hub, is administered by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, India’s richest civic body.After the meeting, MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said that “as of now, Sena (UBT) and MNS are coming together.”Also Read: UBT, MNS lose netas to Shiv Sena in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation electionsThe upcoming civic polls will be the first municipal corporation elections since the splits in the Shiv Sena in 2022 and the Nationalist Congress Party in 2023. The Shiv Sena was split by Eknath Shinde, while the NCP was broken by Ajit Pawar. The Election Commission recognises the Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions as the “real” Shiv Sena and NCP.
