BJP to contest local body elections with Shiv Sena in major cities: Fadnavis: Times of India

KOLHAPUR: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said his party had decided to contest local body elections along with the Shiv Sena.

Speaking the BJP national executive meeting here Fadnavis said, "Though the party is going to focus on increasing its strength in all the assembly constituencies, our preference is to contest it jointly. The BJP will contest the local body elections in Mumbai municipal corporation's election as well in other local elections with Shiv Sena, but the decision will be taken in consultation with local leaders and their aspirations," he said.

He did not specify whether the BJP would contest separately in the upcoming elections of the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation which are slated for September-October this year.

Regarding the state government's approach towards development of the regions, he said, "Pune gets the highest Foreign Direct Investment through industrialization and IT industries. The state aims to distribute FDI equally in all regions. To this end it is developing facilities near Aurangabad under Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Similarly, the MIHAAN project in Nagpur has started getting investment and will be completed at the earliest."

He said that 10 cities from the state had been selected for the Centre's smart city project which is more than any other state, which clearly underscores the importance of the state in the nation building.

When asked about BJP's stand on a separate Vidarbha state, the CM said, "The BJP's stand is clear and it is unchanged. You may raise the issue several times, but there will not be any change in the party's stand."

Asked about the disappearance of BJP's first Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's images on party posters, Fadnavis said, "The issue has been unnecessarily stretched out. Not just Atalji, but we all have deepest sympathy towards Advaniji too. Not having their image on the posters is not a big deal. It should not be interpreted in any other way."