MVA may contest Navi Mumbai poll as an alliance

There are 111 electoral wards in Navi Mumbai. File pic

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which is not clear about whether to contest the civic polls in Mumbai as an alliance, is equally sure of doing so in Navi Mumbai. Recently, local leaders of the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena held a meeting and decided to contest the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) election together.

The civic polls in Navi Mumbai could also take place in 2022. File pic/Sameer Markande

Most party workers and local leaders are in favour of contesting the election together. "The Congress will submit a report about contesting the NMMC election together to state party president Nana Patole and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat," said Congress district president Anil Kaushik.

"We are together in the state government. Therefore there is no problem in contesting local elections together. We had to work on the seat sharing formula. We don't fix any numbers. The ward will be allotted to the candidate who is most likely to be elected," said a Congress leader. There are 111 electoral wards in Navi Mumbai. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) BJP leader Ganesh Naik has a strong hold in Navi Mumbai and at least more than 40 former corporators are with him. "Naik has joined BJP from the NCP. His political career started in the Shiv Sena. Therefore, it is likely twhat all the parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi will fight together to defeat Naik," said a political observer of Navi Mumbai.