Solapur: Bitter rivals, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), have come together to form a front in Barshi taluka of Maharashtra’s Solapur district along with two NCP factions ahead of the local polls.
Elections to 12 Zilla Parishads (ZPs) and 125 Panchayat Samitis will be held on February 7.
The rival Shiv Sena factions, which often target each other, have allied to form a front at the taluka level in Barshi.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday campaigned for the front comprising his party, Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
He addressed a rally at Vairag in Barshi taluka, where Sena (UBT) MLA Dilip Sopal was also present.
Speaking in a lighter vein, Shinde said Sopal, a multiple-term MLA, took the wrong bus or else he would have been in the cabinet. He was alluding to Sopal not aligning with him but with the rival Sena (UBT) in the 2024 state assembly polls.
A Shiv Sena (UBT) leader from Solapur, requesting anonymity, said the alliance between his party and three others is limited to the local level against the BJP.
“This alliance is restricted to Barshi taluka, which comprises 238 villages. It is for ZP and panchayat samiti polls…,” he told PTI on Thursday.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has, on several occasions, said it will not have any truck with the Shiv Sena or the NCP.
The party leadership was also upset over the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) joining hands with the Shiv Sena in Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) in Thane district. The MNS had then defended the move, saying the alliance was done at the local level and without the approval of the party leadership.
In the municipal council polls held in December last year, the two Sena factions came together and formed a front at Kankavli in Sindhudurg district, where its candidate won. The candidate backed by Sena’s Nilesh Rane defeated his challenger, who was supported by his brother and state minister Nitesh Rane on their home turf.
Shiv Sena split in June 2022 after Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray along with a majority of MLAs. Shinde then joined hands with the BJP and became the chief minister. His party is currently a part of the Mahayuti government helmed by the BJP with the NCP as another constituent, while Sena (UBT) is a member of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
