Mumbai: After weeks of speculation that the Congress would go solo in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and Mumbai president Varsha Gaikwad announced the same a day after the party’s drubbing in Bihar.
With the announcement, it seems that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), already on a delicate footing since the debacle in the Maharashtra assembly elections last year, is crumbling.
While ally Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) was dismissive of the Congress decision, its other partner NCP(SP) termed the decision as one “taken because of pride despite a debacle in Bihar”.
Reacting to the decision, Uddhav Thackeray told the media that everyone is independent and can take their decisions. “Their party is different and my party is different. They can take their decisions and I will take mine,” he said Sunday.
The MVA was formed in 2019 with the Congress, the undivided Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as main partners. The alliance continued after the split in the Shiv Sena in 2022 and the NCP in 2023.
The Aghadi had a good performance in the Lok Sabha polls of 2024, where it won 30 of 48 seats, but it suffered its worst show in the assembly elections later the same year.
A discomfort seems to be apparent in the alliance since then. NCP(SP) patriarch Sharad Pawar, who was an architect of the MVA, has also differed with the Congress on many occasions.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), on the other hand, which controlled the BMC undivided for over 25 years, is now seen as struggling for existence. The party that was born in Mumbai, since its split, has been struggling to keep afloat and is currently looking at a tie up with the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
Political analyst Abhay Deshpande said the Congress’ vote-share has been shrinking across the nation and now its priority seems to be strengthening itself.
“Uddhav was anyway not keen on taking the Congress along and was looking to ally with Raj for the BMC polls. If at all an alliance was possible, then the Congress would have got maximum 50 seats to contest on. So, what would they have done? Everywhere they formed regional alliances to stop the BJP, but now they feel that regional parties have got stronger at their expense, so they want to expand their base,” he explained to ThePrint.
Under the BMC, there are 24 administrative wards and 227 councillor wards.
Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had said the INDIA bloc was for the Lok Sabha polls and the MVA was for the assembly elections.
Deshpande ruled out any threat to the MVA. “Maybe post-BMC polls they (MVA allies) might come together. Even earlier, we have seen how alliances fight separately in local body polls despite being in power in the state,” he said.
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Differences in MVA
The NCP(SP) and the Congress have been at odds on multiple occasions since the assembly elections.
On the proposed 130th Constitution Amendment Bill, which seeks to amend articles of the Constitution that deal with jailed Union and state ministers and which is currently under contention, the NCP(SP) has joined the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) looking into it when other opposition parties, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Aam Aadmi Party, indicated they would boycott the panel.
Earlier this year, Pawar had differed with the opposition parties on demanding a special parliamentary session to discuss Operation Sindoor. Pawar had said the post-Pahalgam issue was sensitive, and instead of demanding a special session, an all-party meeting with private deliberations would be more productive.
Last week, former Congress state president Nana Patole targeted Pawar and said he was instrumental in weakening the party in Maharashtra.
Patole’s allegations came in the backdrop of Pawar’s apparent soft stand on the Pune land case involving the veteran’s grandnephew Parth Pawar. Parth is the son of Ajit Pawar, who had split the NCP.
“It is now out in the open that there has always been a systematic plan by the BJP and our allies to weaken the Congress in the state,” Patole told reporters in Nagpur. When asked whether he was referring to Sharad Pawar, he said: “Yes, of course. Everyone knows this.”
Congress’ dilemma
A tension is apparent between the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), especially in Mumbai where they have been each other’s rivals for years. The Congress alleges that allying with the Shiv Sena (UBT) did not result in the expected vote transfer to it.
Congress leaders say that instead, Uddhav’s popularity among minorities is growing and hence the Muslims are voting for his party, resulting in the vote-bank shifting to the Shiv Sena (UBT).
As far as the MNS is concerned, the Congress believes its anti-migrant stance may impact its North Indian voters.
Besides, seat-sharing is also a thorn for the Congress.
“Already, the Shiv Sena (UBT) would fight on over 100 seats, then Raj Thackeray will also get a major chunk. The NCP(SP), though it has a smaller base in Mumbai with presence in certain pockets, will get a few seats. Then what will be left for us?” a Congress functionary wondered.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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