KOLHAPUR: Congress state president Nana Patole has been talking about the party going solo in all upcoming elections and the leaders from Kolhapur have begun the preparations for local polls.
Many political observers have indicated that the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena will not benefit if they contest elections jointly.
Last time too, these three parties had contested independently but formed a post-poll alliance to gain power in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC).
Mahadevrao Adgule, senior political observer from Kolhapur city, said, “The civic elections are different from assembly or general elections.
A large number of candidates are interested in getting tickets.
The parties benefit if they are able to contest on more seats and can also avoid defections.” He added that if the first or second best candidate from a particular ward moves to the opposition camp, then the parties are affected.
In Kolhapur, Congress will benefit if it contests alone.
The office-bearers of political parties too claim that contesting independently will benefit them.
NCP’s city president R K Powar said there is an understanding between all three ruling parties that they can come together after the results.
“The seat-sharing is a complex issue.
It can lead to bickering.
Every party wants to retain and expand its base.
This is only possible by contesting alone and fielding candidates on all seats.” In December last year, Congress district president Satej Patil had said, “Leaders of all three parties are convinced that contesting independently is beneficial for all.
We were the first to experiment with the idea of Mahavikas Aghadi in KMC much before it was formed at the state level.
We contested independently and then formed an alliance later.
We will convince our state leaderships to adopt this strategy for KMC .”