Raj Thackeray joins hands with Congress in Pune

PUNE: In a desperate move, the Congress party in Pune, led by Suresh Kalmadi, has formed an ‘issue based’ alliance with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on the eve of the Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) mayoral elections scheduled for March15.

Following this alliance, the Congress party’s numbers rise to 52. The Congress has 36 corporators, to which are now added eight of the MNS. The balance will be made up of independents, most of whom are Congress rebel candidates.

The alliance is Mr Kalmadi’s attempt to retain a role for himself in the civic body, while simultaneously containing Ajit Pawar’s growing influence.

The MNS has agreed to extend unconditional outside support to the Congress party in the PMC. Mr Kalmadi is seeking to retain his 15-year old domination of the PMC in spite of having suffered losses in the recently held civic elections. In the outgoing 144 member civic body, the Congress had 61 corporators, now down to 36.

The MNS has listed the issues on which it will support the Congress party in the PMC. These were the issues it mentioned in the election manifesto. These include pothole free roads, a 500-sq ft house for every slum dweller, a national-level hospital in the city, special city buses for women and electric crematoria.

Dilip Paigude, city MNS chief, warned that his party will protest if these issues are not addressed.