PR campaigns aiming to get political mileage gains momentum

Aurangabad, Aug 5:

The zilla parishad, panchayat samiti elections are round the corner, and the municipal corporation elections are also predicted to be held anytime. Against this backdrop, the political parties have intensified their public relations campaigns, to gain mileage in the coming elections, in the district.

The district Shiv Sena chief MLC Ambadas Danve undertook the 'Shiv Sampark' campaign in the district from July 11 to August 1. It was concluded at Devgaon Rangari in Kannad tehsil. He covered the district's 68 panchayat samiti gans, 34 zilla parishad guts, jurisdictions of four municipal councils, 106 wards (out of 115) of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, seven wards of Cantonment Area etc. He also held three meetings with Muslim community members. Hundreds of activists of various parties joined Sena under his leadership. Around 13,500 Shiv Sainiks took part in the campaign.

BJP also opted for agitations to voice against the state government. A one-day meeting of BJP was held in Aurangabad on an organisational building. The inclusion of Dr Bhagwat Karad in the union cabinet ministers has manifolded the enthusiasm of local party activists.

The position of Congress is not so strong in the district, but it succeeded in dominating the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Aurangabad. However, the BJP took revenge of it and overpowered Congress in the Aurangabad Panchayat Samiti election. The contact minister Amit Deshmukh and the revenue minister Balsaheb Thorat interacted with the party activists recently. Deshmukh sometimes calls the local office-bearers in Mumbai for discussion. The entry of other party activists in Congress is also underway intermittently. However, the party does not succeed in forming Booth Committees, so far. The president of Maharashtra Pradesh Mahila Congress Sandhya Sawalakhe had recently held a review meeting of Marathwada. She has hinted at reshuffling non-active office-bearers in the meeting.

The strength of NCP is also missing in the district. The contact minister Rajesh Tope is also busy with his other responsibilities. The party has undertaken a drive to install signboards at each village in the district from the birthdays of Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule. A public relations campaign to meet the activist is underway under the leadership of district president Kailas Patil.

The responsibility of AIMIM is solely on the MP Imtiaz Jaleel. The agitations are taken out by the party sometimes, and whenever the MP makes any statements in them, the political environment heats up.