MVA eyes power in 20 dist councils

After losing power in the state owing to snapping of ties with the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to bear the brunt in local rural bodies too.

After losing power in the state owing to snapping of ties with the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to bear the brunt in local rural bodies too.

HT Image

With the three ruling parties – Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress – deciding to fight the elections for chairpersons of district councils (zilla parishad or ZPs) together, they are likely to gain control over more than 20 district councils in the forthcoming elections for chairman and deputy chairman.

District councils play an important role in rural governance and as such in rural politics.

Of the 34 district councils, the local bodies controlling the ruling part of the district, 25 will go for the elections for their head and deputy, which is done every 2.5 years. In the first phase, six district councils will go to polls on January 7. The three parties will contest the elections for all six zilla parishads together.

Of the 25 district councils, the BJP has control over more than seven district bodies, including Jalgaon, Sangli, Jalna, Buldhana, which are ruled by its members as chairman.

The party has the highest number of members (406), followed by the NCP (360), Congress (309) and Shiv Sena (271) in 25 district councils.

Barring Sindhudurg, Jalna, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, where the BJP has a thumping majority, the MVA has chalked out a plan to join hands. In four councils, the BJP has more seats than the total of three parties.

“In a few district councils, the BJP has control with the help of Sena, which had an alliance with it for more than three decades. With the changed political equations, the total of the members of the three parties is more than BJP tally and we are all set to gain the power. The post of chairman and deputy chairman will be decided between the three ruling parties on the basis of the strength in these bodies,” said an NCP leader.

“We have given the power to our local units to join hands with the Shiv Sena and NCP wherever needed. This will help us win more councils,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Balasahbe Thorat.

BJP’s senior leader Girish Mahajan said the local equations are different.

“We were much below the majority mark in Nashik in recent election of the mayor in Nashik. Despite the three ruling parties coming together, the BJP installed its mayor. Similarly, we have chalked out a strategy to ensure that we retain power in most of the existing bodies. It is true that we may have to face defeat in some of the bodies.”

The BJP was dislodged from Ulhasnagar and Latur municipal corporations in the backdrop of the three ruling parties coming together.

In legislative council too, the three party alliance of MVA is likely to gain control during the election for 20 seats over the next six months