MUMBAI, May 11 -- In a major organisational push ahead of the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is set to launch a large-scale statewide outreach campaign aimed at strengthening its grassroots network and addressing concerns of party workers across Maharashtra. The initiative, titled the "Shiv Sena Karyakarta Samvad Tour", will be spearheaded by MP Shrikant Shinde, who will travel across 22 districts and nearly 100 assembly constituencies between May 16 and July 15 in three phases. The tour will cover north Maharashtra, Vidarbha, parts of Marathwada, and the Thane-Palghar belt, regions where local body elections are expected in the coming months. Party leaders said the programme is aimed at consolidating the organisation at the district and taluka levels while ensuring better coordination between the party structure and the state government. The exercise is also being viewed as a strategic attempt by the Shiv Sena to bolster its independent organisational strength amid growing political competition with alliance partner BJP in several districts. As part of the campaign, local leadership will assess organisational preparedness, while performance reviews of frontal organisations such as the Mahila Aghadi and Yuva Sena will also be conducted at district and branch levels. Meetings will involve extensive interaction with party office-bearers, elected representatives and grassroots workers. Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde has simultaneously initiated a parallel organisational restructuring exercise by assigning responsibility for two districts each to ministers from the Shiv Sena quota in the state cabinet. Party insiders said the move is intended to tighten coordination and strengthen the party machinery ahead of crucial local elections. Shrikant Shinde had earlier undertaken similar interaction programmes in Mumbai and Thane and had also toured districts including Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Parbhani, Nanded and Solapur as part of the restructuring process. Announcing the programme on Sunday, Shiv Sena secretary Bhausaheb Chaudhari said the two-month tour would enable direct dialogue between the party leadership and workers across Maharashtra. "Shrikant Shinde will listen to all in each district. Recently he conducted such a tour and took necessary decisions regarding restructuring of the party. The outreach initiative is aimed at understanding issues faced by grassroots workers and further strengthening the organisation through coordinated support from the party and the government," Chaudhari said. He added that the dates and venues of the meetings would be communicated to district office-bearers in the coming days....