Sena, BJP to contest Kalyan polls together

Worried about the challenge posed by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have decided to contest the Kalyan, Dombivli civic polls together.

Worried about the challenge posed by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have decided to contest the Kalyan, Dombivli civic polls together.

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And, even though the election schedule is yet to be declared, the saffron allies on Monday announced their seat-sharing formula.

The polls are likely to be held in the third or fourth week of October. Sena and BJP, who are presently ruling the corporation, have decided to stick to the same seat-sharing ratio as they did during the last election.

“Of the total 107 seats, Sena will contest from 62 seats while the BJP will take 45 seats. We are following the same formula once again, but we are yet to declare our candidates,” said BJP member of legislative council (MLC) Sanjay Kelkar from Thane.

At present, the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has 32 Sena and 16 BJP corporators. However, maintaining the seat-sharing ratio and following well-tread paths might not necessarily help the ruling alliance.

The legislative assembly elections of 2010 saw the predominant Marathi population favouring the MNS, which is an issue of concern for the saffron alliance.

The MNS has two big MLA seats — one from Kalyan West and the other from Kalyan Rural constituency — from the majority 61 seats that fall under the Kalyan jurisdiction.