New Delhi: Congress has rejected Shiv Sena (UBT)’s request to reconsider its alliance with MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) for the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections scheduled for January 15, 2026. However, Congress has stated that it is ready for a post-poll agreement with the regional party if necessary.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut made this appeal on Monday. Just a day earlier, in Maharashtra’s local body elections, the ruling Mahayuti (Mahayuti) comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, Shinde, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) outperformed the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (Maha Vikas Aghadi) comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP).
Raut said that it is essential for the opposition to come together to defeat the BJP and its allies in the upcoming BMC elections. AICC in-charge of Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala, recently announced that the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee will contest the BMC elections alone.
AICC Maharashtra in-charge Secretary UB Venkatesh told ETV Bharat, “This was a well-considered decision after discussions with party workers. We stand by that decision. However, if needed, we can be open to a compromise after the elections.”
The Maha Vikas Aghadi was formed in 2019 when the BJP’s former ally, Shiv Sena, joined forces with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP to form a government.
Later, the BJP split the Shiv Sena into Sena Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) in 2022 and the NCP into the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP in 2023 to gain power.
The Congress, Shiv Sena (United) Party, and the NCP (SP) contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as well as the Maharashtra Assembly elections together. However, after Shiv Sena (United) leader Uddhav Thackeray joined forces with his estranged brother and MNS chief Raj Thackeray to secure his political foothold in the capital, Mumbai, the grand old party decided to contest the crucial BMC elections alone.
Venkatesh said, “Our workers are very excited about the decision to contest the BMC elections alone. We have received an overwhelming response from ticket seekers, as we have received over 1,600 applications for the 227 BMC wards. We have interviewed all the applicants in the last few days and are in the process of shortlisting the names.”
The AICC official said that the Congress performed well in the recent local body elections, winning 41 mayoral posts across the state despite the ruling alliance, the Mahayuti, being heavily funded and lacking in resources.
He said, “I am happy with the party’s performance in the local body elections. We were in the opposition and had to contest the elections with limited resources.”
Venkatesh said, “Still, we won 41 mayoral posts. This shows the party’s presence in the state and gives us hope for a comeback in the coming days. We performed better than our allies Shiv Sena, UBT, and NCP, SP in the local body elections. We hope this trend will be reflected in the BMC elections as well.”
AICC Secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, Kunal Chaudhary, told ETV Bharat, “We tried and performed well in the local body elections in Vidarbha, Nagpur, and Chandrapur areas. Wherever possible, we are working with our allies at the local level in the state, but Mumbai is a separate region.”
Congress insiders said that the defeat of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP-SP has damaged their Maratha identity-based politics, which has been hijacked by the rebel group of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. Consequently, a BMC seat-sharing agreement between the Thackeray brothers is expected to be announced soon.
To address this situation, the Congress has begun reaching out to North Indians living in Mumbai ahead of the BMC elections to garner the community’s support. AICC in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, Avinash Pandey, addressed a gathering of North Indians living in the city on Sunday.
Pande said, “It is important to rise above politics and engage in serious discussions and work on concrete solutions to the real problems of our North Indian brothers and sisters living in Mumbai.”
To this end, the Congress Mumbai North Indian Cell has released a people-centric manifesto based on public dialogue. The manifesto lists key issues such as policies for street vendors, self-employment protection, and housing for migrants.”
The Congress rejected Sanjay Raut’s proposal to reconsider the alliance for the BMC elections, but the grand old party sought the support of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar to counter the impact of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS coming together in Mumbai. As head of the undivided Shiv Sena, Uddhav had previously dominated the BMC and feared losing this position to the BJP.
