India, Dec. 1 -- The ruling Mahayuti seems to be dominating the campaign for the first phase of local body polls, in which 246 municipal councils and 42 municipal panchayats that govern smaller cities go to polls on Tuesday. The three-party coalition has unleashed a high decibel campaign in several cities creating a perception that the Opposition parties are nowhere to be seen. Significantly, the MVA partners have chosen to keep their campaign pretty low profile. As far as Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is concerned, party insiders say the top priority for the leadership is to win the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, which are expected in January. While the leadership is focussing on the last phase of the local polls when 29 municipal corporations governing major cities will go to polls, most of the effort would be centred around the prestigious Mumbai civic body. On the other hand, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has given freedom to its local units to join hands with any of their opponents, except the BJP. "This is more for the survival of the local leaders and workers opposite the BJP than for political ideology," said a key leader of the party. The party leadership has adopted an 'open door' policy for alliance with Ajit Pawar-led NCP in all the three phases of the local polls which is now being seen as an indication of the two factions inching closer. Meanwhile, Congress, which is contesting more civic bodies than its allies, has also kept its campaign low key so far. State president Harshvardhan Sapkal is doing most of the campaigning while other leaders have been asked to focus on their districts. Whose strategy will click with the voters? December 3 will give the answer but as far as the battle of perception is concerned, the ruling Mahayuti has scored over its rivals. As the relationship between allies Shiv Sena and BJP gets strained, the BJP leaders have started taunting deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde over being "number two" alluding to him losing the chief ministership to Devendra Fadnavis. Speaking at a campaign rally in Sangli on Saturday, state BJP president Ravindra Chavan said Fadnavis is supreme in the government. "Number one is important, number two does not have value," he remarked. His party colleague and fisheries minister Nitesh Rane reiterated on Sunday that Fadnavis is the one who is calling the shots and number two does not matter. BJP's attacks on Shinde intensified after his remarks in Palghar appealing to the voters to "teach a lesson to arrogant people". BJP legislator Parinay Phuke went a step further and dared the Shinde-led Sena to quit the alliance if it wanted to. The bitterness between the two allies seems to be intensifying ahead of the crucial local polls. Citizen groups, activists and opposition parties in Nashik have been protesting against the plan to cut about 1,700 trees at the lush green Tapovan area in the city to set up Sadhugram, a temporary accommodation for priests who will be visiting Nashik to attend the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in 2026-27. The Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority (NTKMA) is building Sadhugram on about 300 acres land. A hearing conducted by the Nashik civic body saw strong opposition to the plan to cut the trees. Citizens have also been flooding social media about the controversy. The state's disaster management minister Girish Mahajan, who is in charge of the Kumbh Mela, is however insisting that the trees will have to be cut. The ongoing protests and the adamant stand of the authorities is reminding many of the Aarey Colony controversy in Mumbai when trees were cut for building Metro 3 carshed despite protests by the citizens. Will Tapovan go the Aarey way or will Nashik citizens manage to save the trees? Senior NCP leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is undergoing treatment for an ailment in hospital, on Sunday addressed a rally through video in his constituency Yeola for municipal council elections. A tired-looking Bhujbal was seen addressing the rally sitting on his hospital bed, with a drip on his hand and wearing a nasal cannula. Giant screens were put up at the venue of the hospital for his brief address in which he appealed to the people to vote for "the people who have been developing your city."...