Maharashtra civic polls LIVE: Stage set voting next week; high drama over claims of Congress-BJP alliance

MAharashtra Local personify Election unrecorded Updates: present is go under for the high-stakes local personify elections in Maharashtra as the State Election Commission announced that elections to 29 municipal corporations across the state will be held on January 15, with counting scheduled for January 16. As many as 2,869 seats in these municipal corporations will be up for grabs, according to the SEC.The prominent civic bodies going to polls include Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.As key parties in fray are working to finalise their alliances before voting, the BJP, bolstered by its victory in 2024 Assembly elections is eying to make big wins in the elections for 29 municipal corporations next week.Ahead of the voting, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is scheduled to hold over 50 rallies between Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and other cities, while the party’s state unit chief Ravindra Chavan and election in-charge Chandrashekhar Bawankule will hold between 45-50 rallies in the state, HT reported earlier.Attacks on Shiv Sena leadersMeanwhile, reports of violence have also surfaced as Shiv Sena leader Haji Salim Qureshi was attacked with a knife while campaigning in Mumbai's Bandra on Wednesday evening. He suffered "some cut injuries" on his stomach but is stable, police was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Qureshi is a Shiv Sena candidate, contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections from Ward No. 92 in Bandra.Another Shiv Sena leader Pramod Nana Bhangire alleged that stones were hurled at his car during an election campaign in a society near Shreeram Chowk in Maharashtra's Pune."While I was holding a public meeting for election campaigning in a society near Shreeram Chowk, some people pelted stones at my car and also targeted our candidate, Sarika Pawar. The police have gone to the spot. The police are checking the CCTV footage there," Bhangire was quoted as saying by ANI. He further said that Shiv Sena candidate Sarika Pawar was also targeted.Row over Congress-BJP allianceHigh drama unfolded on Wednesday as reports emerged claiming that arch-rivals the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) were working to join hands for the Ambernath Municipal Council polls. However, leadership of both parties strongly reacted to the reports and dismissed the possibility of any alliance. The Ambernath Municipal Council polls took place on December 20.In Ambernath, local BJP leaders had reportedly joined hands with Congress, aiming to weaken as well as keep its ally, the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, out of power.Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has slammed the decision, which he claims was made by local leaders.