Daijiworld Media Network - Gondia

Gondia, Sep 29: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) working president Praful Patel stated on Monday that while the party remains firmly aligned with the NDA and Mahayuti for Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, local body polls will follow a more flexible approach, driven by grassroots-level decisions.

Addressing a press conference, Patel acknowledged that party workers have strong aspirations to contest civic elections independently in many regions. He clarified that local units would be empowered to decide whether to contest alone or form alliances based on ground realities.

“It is not practical to have alliances everywhere,” Patel said. “The decision on local body polls has been left to the discretion of district-level leadership.”

This marks a significant clarification from the NCP amid growing speculation over whether the Mahayuti constituents — the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP — would enforce a unified approach in municipal and panchayat elections. Patel confirmed there is no top-down directive for alliances in these contests, despite ongoing coordination at higher levels.

“Senior leaders from all three parties are working together with coordination, and we present a united front at both state and national levels,” he noted.

Patel's remarks echo a similar stance recently taken by the opposition Congress, which also delegated alliance decisions in local polls to its district leadership.

Shifting focus to Maharashtra’s flood crisis, Patel lauded the efforts of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, for visiting affected areas and seeking relief from the Centre. He also revealed that all NCP MPs and MLAs have donated one month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to support ongoing recovery efforts.