Shiv sena may go solo for Council polls

Mumbai: Shiv Sena is considering contesting next month's elections to six Legislative Council seats by itself in a bid to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The decision could increase the rift between both the parties.

Election Commission of India had declared the elections for the seats on May 21. Elections will be held in Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Parbhani-Hingoli-Amravati, Osmanabad and Beed-Latur constituencies where members of councils and zilla parishads will exercise their franchiseThe terms of Sunil Tatkare and Jayant Jadhav from the NCP, Abdullah Khan Latif Khan Durani and Dilip Deshmukh from Congress and Mitesh Bhangadia and Pravin Pote from the BJP are to expire.

The Sena has a good presence in the Konkan, Nashik and Marathwada. If it goes  alone while the Congress-NCP form an alliance, BJP might be damaged. In Latur, BJP came to power so seat of Congress MLA Dilip Deshmukh may be endangered sources said.