Strife in Maha Vikas Aghadi? Five Shiv Sena corporators from Parner join NCP in presence of Ajit Pawar

Even though the occasional storm of controversies hits the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra every now and then, the Shiv Sena, Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have always claimed that the alliance is strong and well at the state governance-level. However, it seems like the parties are still at loggerheads with each other at the local level.

On Saturday, five Shiv Sena members from the Parner 'Nagar Panchayat' (Municipal Corporation) in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district joined the NCP in the presence of the state's Deputy Chief Minister and veteran NCP leader Ajit Pawar. The corporators left the Shiv Sena because they were reportedly unhappy with the local party leadership.

The five leaders who quit the Shiv Sena to join the NCP are - Kishan Gandhade, Nanda Deshmane, Nandkumar Deshmukh, Vaishali Auti, and Mudassar Sayyad.

According to several reports, NCP MLA Nilesh Lanke, who was present when the corporators made the switch, said that the five members were also reportedly in talks with the BJP. However, the senior leadership of the NCP was of the opinion that Shiv Sena members joining the BJP might hurt the ruling MVA coalition at the state, hence it was NCP which approached the five aforementioned members and offered the alternative to Sena.

However, it seems likely that this development will hurt the Sena on some level as Parner Municipal Corporation was considered to be a bastion of the Shiv Sena. With this move, the NCP might have hinted at the fact that the party is now eyeing to compete with the Sena and win the upcoming Municipal Corporation polls from Parner.