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Bhujbal bats for Cong-NCP alliance for civic elections
NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday said he would try his "level best" to ensure the Congress and NCP fight the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, scheduled for 2012, together.
NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday said he would try his "level best" to ensure the Congress and NCP fight the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, scheduled for 2012, together.
The Sena-BJP alliance gained power over the civic body during the last elections in 2005 after the Congress and the NCP failed to join hands despite the fact that the number of votes gathered by both parties together was more than those drawn by the saffron alliance.
"It is my wish to see them together in the Mumbai civic body which is one of the biggest bodies in Maharashtra. I tried to get both parties together on one platform and will try my best to do so for these elections too," Bhujbal said.
The civic elections will be crucial because now the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will change political equations in the civic body.
MNS, which has been raking the Marathi manoos and other civic issues, has made inroads in the corporation and is likely to emerge as a strong force during the elections.
"Last time it did not work out and talks failed at the last moment. I will keep trying this time too," he added.
Speaking on Mantralaya redevelopment, he said the proposal was not to sell land to private developers, but to develop the surrounding complex, including Vidhan Bhavan and other government buildings such as the administrative building and MLA hostel.
He also said he was pressing for the OBC census because OBC policies were not being implemented as the last census was done in 1931, claiming that today more than 54 per cent of the population fell under the OBC category.
Asked when he would move to national politics as those belonging to his generation like BJP leader Gopinath Munde and former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had already shifted base to Delhi, Bhujbal said he had "no plans as of now".
"Is there an offer for me on the cards?" he asked in turn.
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