Signalling trouble for the Congress and Maha Vikas Agadi in the Maharashtra local body polls, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced an alliance with NCP (Sharad Pawar) for elections to Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader called the decision a signal of "family coming together again".
Addressing a campaign rally inPimpri Chinchwad on Sunday, Ajit Pawar said, "While finalising the list of candidates for the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party Sharadchandra Pawar faction decided to contest the polls together in Pimpri Chinchwad. Because of this, the family will come together once again," ANI reported.
Calling it a decision taken in the interest of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar said the seat-sharing arrangement will be announced soon. "There were many questions in people’s minds about what would happen; many times, certain decisions have to be taken in the interest of Maharashtra’s development. I have discussed seat-sharing with leaders, and that too will be announced soon," he said.
Earlier in the day, NCP(SP) leader Sharad Pawar was seen along with Ajit Pawar during the inauguration of the Sharadchandra Pawar Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in Baramati, Pune. Industrialist Gautam Adani inaugurated the facility. Baramati MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter, Supriya Sule, was also present.
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On Sunday, the Congress announced an alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), the upcoming Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. VBA would contest from 62 seats.
Recently, Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray joined hands with his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray and announced they would be contesting the municipal elections together. While Congress has maintained Shiv Sena(UBT) and NCP(SP) are its key allies in Maharashtra, it has signalled that it would neither partner with Raj Thackeray or Ajit Pawar.