Post the formation of the new house of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), political parties are trying to use their numerical strength in the House to secure plump posts.
Post the formation of the new house of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), political parties are trying to use their numerical strength in the House to secure plump posts.
With the emergence of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) as a formidable force to reckon with in the PMC, feelers are being sent to the party to work out possible understandings with the party.
On Saturday, when MNS president Raj Thackeray was in the city to flag off an adventure sports event, senior leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had reportedly met him to discuss possible new avenues
between the parties.
“Although the post of the mayor and deputy mayor would go to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress respectively, for other posts, other parties would like to stake claim,” a senior MNS leader told DNA. The coveted chair of the standing committee chairman in particular and that of the education board chairman are in the limelight, with the saffron alliance, Congress and MNS trying to bag them.
The present House has 29 members from the MNS and 43 members of the grand alliance (26 from the BJP, 15 from the Shiv Sena and 2 from the RPI).
Given the wafer thin majority the NCP enjoys with the Congress in the present house, any combinations between the parties can topple the applecart when it comes to the election for the post of the chairman of the various committees.
Interestingly, the grand saffron alliance although have the numbers in the newly elected house of the PMC, it might not be staking its claim for the position of the leader of opposition. This, senior party leaders claim, is due to the intrinsic differences between BJP and Shiv Sena over various issues.
City BJP president Vikas Mathkari, while talking to DNA, stated that the grand alliance between the parties are from sharing of seats and contesting the elections together. “We are distinct parties who would remain so on several issues,” he said.
Shiv Sena spokesperson, Neelam Gorhe, put the onus on the BJP and said, “The BJP has the numerical advantage on the floor of the House to claim the position. In case they do so, we will support them. However, they have not done it yet.”
This, political observers feel, is a sign of tactical understanding to allow the MNS with its 29 corporators to stake the claim for the position of the leader of opposition.
Meanwhile, within the MNS circles, names of Prakash Dhore, Ravindra Dhangekar, Rajendra Wagashikar and Rupali Patil are doing the rounds for the post of the leader of opposition.
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