It is considered certain that the Thackeray brothers will join forces in the upcoming important elections across the state, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The alliance between the Thackeray group and the MNS has not yet been officially announced, but based on the increasing meetings and joint rallies of leaders from both parties, it seems that only the formality of the announcement is left.
Similarly, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has conducted a survey before the seat-sharing discussion. In this, the picture of where and how many seats the MNS has in Mumbai has become clear to MNS President Raj Thackeray.
Out of the 227 seats in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the MNS has strength in as many as 125. It is also known that the MNS has good candidates for these 125 seats and is ready to enter the election fray.
Before forming an alliance with Uddhav Thackeray, the MNS reviewed the 227 seats in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Accordingly, a list of 125 strong seats was submitted.
After the announcement of the ward reservation of the civic body, there is a possibility that discussions on seat sharing will begin between Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and MNS.
For the past few days, meetings of leaders, office bearers, branch heads and branch presidents of Thackeray's Shiv Sena (shiv sena ubt) and MNS in Mumbai have been going on.
The meetings are being reviewed to see where MNS has strength in the city. Sources have informed that MNS has prepared a list of 125 seats so far.
This mainly includes Marathi-dominated areas like Mahim, Dadar, Parel, Byculla, Jogeshwari, Bhandup, Ghatkopar.
The number of votes for MNS is high in these places and MNS had received good votes there in the previous BMC or Assembly elections as well.
This does not mean at all that MNS is insistent on contesting 125 out of 227 seats of Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
Although the actual seat-sharing talks between the Thackeray group and the MNS have not started, both the parties have shortlisted the seats where they have more strength.
When the actual seat-sharing takes place, there are indications that who will contest on which seat according to merit will be decided. After further negotiations, it will be clear who will contest on how many seats.