shiv sena: Maharashtra Congress accuses Sena, NCP of changing ward boundaries to its disadvantage

The Congress has complained against two of its allies for trying to curtail their electoral influence in the state. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday accused the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena of redistributing wards so as to adversely affect the Congress. The party has also warned that it may take the matter to court.

Patole said, ‘If the parties delimit the wards according to their own interests, then there will be an objection and we will go to the court.

The Congress alleges that rescheduling of municipal wards for the Pune Municipal Corporation elections and Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections has been done in such a way that it divides the pockets of the Congress and benefits the NCP in Pune and the Shiv Sena in Mumbai.

Patole said that being an ally in the Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), its interests should be kept in mind while remodeling these wards. “Everyone has to be taken into confidence.

If the interests of your own partners are not considered, and they are adversely affected, we will object. We also had an issue regarding the number of proposed election panels for municipal bodies,” the state Congress chief said. Responding to a question, he admitted that in Pune the delimitation of wards would help the NCP, while in Mumbai it would help the Shiv Sena.

A Congress leader in Mumbai said the party would be adversely affected in at least 12 to 15 wards in Mumbai. “NCP does not have a presence in Mumbai, so they are not complaining against Shiv Sena’s move, and similarly in Pune, Shiv Sena does not have much presence, so they are not talking big. However, we have a presence in both the districts, and this will adversely affect us,” the Congress leader said.

A week ago, Patole publicly criticized the NCP for forging an alliance with the BJP for the Gondia Zilla Parishad elections. He had also briefed the Congress leadership in Delhi about the NCP’s move.

Originally published at Pen 18