In a blow to MVA, Shiv Sena (UBT) to go solo in local body elections

Cong and NCP (SP) say local elections are usually fought by parties on their own

- Yogesh Naik

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena (UBT) has confirmed what it had only hinted at so far, that the party will contest local body elections alone. Senior party leader Sanjay Raut announced on Saturday that there will be no alliance with the opposition coalition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), for these elections.

The Sena (UBT)'s decision has put a question mark on the future of the MVA although its alliance partners, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (SP), played down the development. They pointed out that it was the convention to go solo in local elections, which was the case even when the MVA was at the helm in the state.

Raut told the media on Saturday, "Right from Mumbai to Nagpur, we will fight the elections (local self-government) on our own strength. We want to see what happens." He underlined that the decision was taken to test the organisation's strength at the grassroots level. "In an alliance, workers don't get a chance to fight elections and this restricts the party's growth. In local elections, the party grows stronger," Raut said.