Tension within Mahayuti in MBMC

Mumbai: As the final date for filing nominations is advancing, the tension within Mahayuti has started mounting. While the tension remained confined only to BJP in corporations like Nashik and Solapur, in the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) neighbouring Mumbai, the BJP’s tough stand has upset minister Pratap Sarnaik who has given an ultimatum of 24 hours to the BJP, to forge an alliance in the city.

Owing to the paucity of time the final alignments are being made in all the Municipal Corporations across the state. Series are meetings - with party workers and prospective candidates; with prospective allies; with prospective defectors from opposition parties - are being conducted by almost all the leaders of all the political parties. These meetings are likely to continue throughout the Sunday night and even Monday so that the party candidates will be able to file nominations on Tuesday. On the background, the grand picture about alliances is likely to be clear on Monday.

However, the as the deadline is approaching, the tension within the alliance parties too is seen rising everywhere. In MBMC it crossed the threshold and made the minister Pratap Sarnaik call a press conference and issue a public ultimatum to it stronger ally.

Stronger Party

The BJP has been stronger than the Shiv Sena in MBMC. Moreover the recent incoming from all parties, including Shiv Sena, has made the BJP stronger in the city. On the contrary, the Shiv Sena is weaker even though it inducted some on the disgruntled BJP workers in the city. Owing to this ‘Big Brother’ image in the city the BJP had put forth several conditions before even beginning seat sharing talks with the Shiv Sena.

Some of the conditions laid down for alliance indicated at the real reasons of tensions between the two parties. One such was about ‘Shivar Garden’ a public facility developed by the corporation. While it has been handed over to a Shiv Sena worker close to minister Pratap Sarnaik, the BJP laid a condition that it should be returned to the Corporation.

Another condition was more peculiar. It said all the party workers inducted from the BJP should be sent back. Sarnaik today made it clear that while issues related to Shivar Garden can be resolved and decision regarding newly inducted workers too can be made on party level, it would warrent beginning of formal seat sharing talks. “Without talks being held how can any conditions be accepted,” Sarnaik asked adding that Shiv Sena will be free to take its own decision if the decision is not made within next 24 hours.

Past Equation

The BJP held 61 seats of the total 95 in MBMC while the Shiv Sena held only 22. Sarnaik compared that to the equation in Thane, where the Shiv Sena holds 82 seats and the BJP has 24, and raised question whether the BJP really wants to forge an alliance in MBMC. He also suggested that the alliance in MBMC will reflect the alliance in Thane. However, BJP MLA Narendra Mehta, who is in charge of seat sharing talks for the MBMC, tried to brush off the suggestion stating that the Shiv Sena too has thrived on the basis of the alliance in the city.

This kind of tough bargain is expected to go on till tomorrow but the real picture regarding alliance will be clear only in the new year after the last day for withdrawing the nominations.

Congress, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi seal alliance

Mumbai: The Congress and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by B.R. Ambedkar's grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, announced an alliance for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on Sunday, with the VBA set to contest 62 of the 227 seats.

Congress will contest more than 150 seats, while some seats will be allocated to the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and RPI (Gavai), sources said.

The tie-up decision was announced by Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal and VBA state vice-president Dhairyavardhan Pundkar.

Sapkal said that decisions on alliances for the remaining 28 municipal corporations in the state would be taken at the local level, and both parties had authorised their local leaderships to take appropriate calls.

He said the Congress-VBA tie-up was a "natural alliance" based on shared ideology rather than mere electoral arithmetic.

"This is not a game of numbers, but a coming together of ideas. Both parties believe in the Constitution and in building India envisioned by it, based on equality, fraternity, and social justice," he said.

Recalling that the two parties had earlier come together during the 1998 and 1999 elections, Sapkal said that after a gap of 25 years, a new chapter had begun.

"It took time for the process, but from today, a new phase in state politics has started," he added.

VBA leader Pundkar said the alliance had been formed to stop "the divisive politics of the BJP.

He said Sapkal had taken the initiative for the alliance and maintained a positive approach from the beginning.

"In the Mumbai civic elections, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi will contest 62 seats," he reiterated.

VBA state vice-president and chief spokesperson Siddharth Mokale said seat-sharing talks in alliances were never fully satisfactory but required consensus from both sides.

Elections to 29 municipal corporations are scheduled for January 15, 2026. The formal schedule of ZP polls is awaited.

Notably, the Congress had announced to contest the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections solo.

In the 2017 BMC elections, the Congress won only 31 seats, far behind the then undivided Shiv Sena and the BJP.

Verification shows 16,574 as repeat voters

Thane: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has completed a comprehensive verification exercise to identify and scrutinise potential repeat voters in the January 15 civic polls, officials said on Sunday.

In a release, the TMC said 83,645 voters flagged as potential repeat voters were examined in detail during the verification of the electoral rolls.

"The scrutiny revealed that the names and photographs of 67,071 voters did not match, confirming they were not repeat voters. In view of the verification findings, the star mark appearing against the names of 67,071 voters will be removed," the release quoted Deputy Commissioner (Elections) Umesh Birari as saying.

This would ensure these voters can exercise their franchise without any inconvenience or restriction on polling day, he added.

"The verification process confirmed 16,574 voters as genuine repeat voters, as their names and photographs were found to be identical in the electoral rolls. The star mark against the names of such voters will be retained. Their names will be clearly stamped as 'repeat voter' in the voter list," Birari informed.

Such voters would be allowed to vote only after submitting a written undertaking in the prescribed format at the polling station, declaring that they are voting at the same location and only once, he said.

"Special attention will be paid to these voters to prevent any possibility of double voting. Polling officials will closely monitor the process. The verification drive was undertaken to uphold transparency in the electoral process, prevent double or bogus voting, and safeguard the rights of genuine voters," the release said.

An accurate and error-free voter list is essential for a healthy democracy, it asserted.

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“Unanimity has been reached on 207 seats in the BMC, of which the BJP will contest 128 and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena 79. Talks are underway on the remaining 20 seats. Decisions on these seats will be taken after considering the candidates in the fray.”

Ameet Satam President, Mumbai BJP

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“How long will you deceive the people with emotional politics? Put up banners about the promised dams for Thane’s water security or the transportation issues that have plagued the city for 20 years. Thane is asking: what does this ‘Namo’ politics give them when basic infrastructure is in chaos?”

Avinash Jadhav, Leader, MNS