MVA to pull out all the stops; Uddhav, Ajit Pawar, Patole to hold joint rally for PMC, PCMC polls

The MVA will also take a call on inviting Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar to the rallies.

The first such rally will be held on April 2 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (earlier Aurangabad) and will be addressed by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, state Congress chief Nana Patole and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat. Subsequent rallies will be held in Nagpur on April 16, Mumbai on May 1, Pune on May 14, Kolhapur on 28 and Nashik on June 3.

The decision to hold the joint rallies was taken at a meeting of MVA leaders in Mumbai on Wednesday. Uddhav presided over the meeting, which was held on Vidhan Bhavan premises. Apart from Ajit Pawar and Nana Patole, leaders like Ambadas Danve, Opposition leader of the state Legislative Council, Aaditya Thackeray, Chhagan Bhujbal, Satej Patil, Sunil Kedar and Dhananjay Munde were also present.

“In Kasba Peth elections, our leaders held joint rallies which saw large gatherings. Karyakartas (workers) of all three parties and other alliance partners were present in full strength. As a result, a strong message went among the voters which led to the victory of our candidate. We want to implement a similar experiment during the civic polls as well,” Sanjay Raut, spokesperson for the Shiv Sena (UBT), told The Indian Express.

Raut said Uddhav will also campaign. In the recent Kasba and Chinchwad bypolls, Uddhav could not campaign as his movement has been restricted due to a medical condition. “For the rallies to be held for upcoming civic polls, our party chief will be in action. His presence will energise the rank and file of our party as well as enthuse the workers of our alliance partners,” Raut said.

A Congress leader said that if Uddhav campaigns in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad alongside MVA leaders, it will be the first such instance. “Uddhav Thackeray, Congress and NCP leaders have never come on a common platform in Pune or Pimpri-Chinchwad,” the leader said.

Asked whether VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar will be invited, Raut said, “At yesterday’s meeting, this issue was not discussed. Today, there is likely to be another meeting where we will discuss whether Prakash Ambedkar should be invited or not,” he said. The VBA has struck an alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) for the Mumbai civic polls.

State Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said the issue of inviting Ambedkar was not discussed. “Even otherwise, the MVA has not struck an alliance with VBA. The Shiv Sena has an alliance with VBA. It was for the Sena to take the call,” he said.

Londhe said the joint rallies of top leaders of MVA will help effectively unite the workers and leaders of the MVA. “Instead of individual rallies of a particular leader belonging to one party, we have decided to hold joint rallies where all the leaders and workers of our alliance partners will be present. It will show the might of the MVA. After the recent Kasba experiment, we have decided to jointly display our armour to decimate the BJP and Shinde Sena which is going all out to wreck Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and the Congress,” he said.

Londhe said the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations are high on their agenda. “We won Kasba after 28 years. It shows the voters are inclined towards us. The air is blowing in favour of MVA in PMC limits. Similarly, in Chinchwad too, we would have won had the rebel candidate withdrawn from the race. Anyway, the combined votes polled by our official candidate and the rebel candidate are much more than that polled by the BJP candidate. This is enough reason for BJP to worry…We are confident of capturing both the PMC and PCMC civic bodies,” he said.