BJP Shinde led Shiv Sena coalition will contest in parts of the civic elections jointly, in others separately.

Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, announced on Wednesday that BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, will contest in parts of the civic elections jointly and in others separately.

Notably, CM Shinde had declared in August that the BJP and the “original” Shiv Sena would run jointly in the upcoming civic elections in Maharashtra. He stated that the group he leads is the “original” Shiv Sena.

Elections are scheduled for a number of civic organisations in the state, notably the financially robust Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur on Wednesday, Fadnavis said, “The BJP and the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shide will contest some civic polls separately, while there will be an alliance in other civic polls. We will definitely do it.” The schedule for the civic polls will be announced by the State Election Commission, the BJP leader said.

“A schedule announced by the SEC earlier has been challenged in court, hence we need to wait for the court’s decision that would pave way for the civic polls in Maharashtra,” Fadnavis said

On June 30 of this year, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray was overthrown by a rebellion led by Shinde, which resulted in the formation of the Shinde-BJP partnership.

The SC turned down a petition earlier this month that questioned the constitutionality of a Maharashtra rule that reduced the number of BMC seats, clearing the way for the civic elections to take place.

The Maharashtra government’s decision to cut the number of seats from 236 to 227 was contested in the petition.