India, Nov. 9 -- With the first phase of municipal council and nagar panchayat elections scheduled for December 2, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday reviewed organisational preparedness and laid down a clear strategic framework for candidate selection and alliances.

At a meeting held at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai with senior leaders, including state president Shashikant Shinde, Jayant Patil, MP Supriya Sule and several MPs and MLAs, Pawar asked the party to avoid any alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the local level. However, he left the option of arrangements with parties from the ruling Mahayuti, such as the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde or the NCP faction led by dep...