As Maharashtra gears up for the January 15 civic body elections, political activity intensified on Tuesday with rival camps holding parallel meetings to firm up alliances and seat-sharing strategies, especially for the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.
The focus remained firmly on Mumbai, where Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray, signalling that a tie-up between the two parties is all but final. Raut later told reporters that Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS would contest the civic polls together not just in Mumbai but also in Mira-Bhayander, Kalyan-Dombivli, Thane, Pune and Nashik, with a formal announcement expected next week.
“There is no problem in announcing the alliance in the coming week. Both brothers, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, will be seen together on stage for the announcement,” Raut said.
On a possible understanding with the Congress, Raut said he had spoken to the party’s top leadership, urging it to contest the civic polls as part of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which he believes should also include the MNS. However, he added that the Congress leadership has left the decision to local units.
Both the Opposition and the ruling Mahayuti have asserted that Mumbai will have a Marathi mayor after the elections. Addressing reporters after a meeting between the BJP and Shiv Sena, Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam said the ruling alliance was working with a clear aim of crossing the 150-seat mark in the 227-member BMC.
“Our discussions are focused on ensuring Mahayuti candidates win across all 227 wards, with a clear objective of securing 150-plus seats in the BMC,” Satam said.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and minister Ashish Shelar ruled out any alliance with the NCP for the Mumbai civic polls, even as the Ajit Pawar-led party remains a key constituent of the Mahayuti at the state level. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar alleged that the ruling alliance was deliberately keeping the NCP out of civic tie-ups to split secular votes.
An NCP leader countered the claim, saying the party has been preparing for the civic polls for months and holding weekly meetings to strengthen its organisation in Mumbai. “After consultations with Ajit Pawar, we will decide the exact number of seats to contest. In multi-cornered local elections, individual candidates matter,” the leader said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier stated that the BJP and Shiv Sena would contest the civic polls together in most places, while Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad could see friendly contests between the BJP and NCP.
On the Opposition front, Congress Mumbai president Varsha Gaikwad said her party would fight the BMC polls on local civic issues and accused the BJP of pushing a “religious agenda” to divert attention from governance failures.
AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel said his party would contest seats in 27 of the 29 municipal corporations going to polls in January, including Mumbai, and was open to alliances with like-minded parties and the Opposition MVA. He said candidate lists would be announced by December 22 or 23.
Adding to the political sparring, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray targeted the BJP for taking credit for civic work done by his party, urging workers to highlight the achievements of the undivided Shiv Sena during its BMC rule from 1997 to 2022.
With more than 1.03 crore voters across 227 wards eligible to cast their ballots, the BMC elections are seen as a prestige battle for Maharashtra’s major political formations. The final electoral rolls have been published, and votes will be counted on January 16 as 29 municipal corporations, including cash-rich Mumbai, head into a fierce contest for urban political supremacy.
q