The Story Behind Congress' Big 528-Seat Bet For Maharashtra Civic Polls

The Congress will contest a chunk of seats – 528 across the Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations – in the January 15 civic body elections. This will be the most number of civic body seats it has contested solo since 1999.

This will also be sans any alliance or understanding with major allies, including Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction and Sharad Pawat's Nationalist Congress Party group.

In addition, it will also fight solo in Nagpur, Akola, Amravati, and Chandrapur, and for 65 of Latur's 70 seats and 60 of Nanded's 81; the rest will go to Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Angadi.

The numbers:

In Mumbai (the country's richest municipal corporation, valued at Rs 74,000 crore), the Congress will contest 167 seats.

In Thane the party will contest 101 seats.

In Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar it will field candidates in 100 seats.

And in Pimpri-Chinchwad the Congress has put up 60 candidates.

The background:

The Congress' lone wolf approach follows an apparent complete breakdown of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the alliance formed by it and Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

That breakdown was precipitated by the much-publicised Thackeray family reunion; Raj Thackeray, who walked out of the family 20 years ago after a fight with party founder and uncle Bal Thackeray, reunited his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena with his cousin Uddhav last week.

RECAP | "Batenge Toh Katenge": Uddhav, Raj Join Hands For Mumbai Civic Polls

The Congress (and Sharad Pawar's NCP) was left distinctly unsettled by Thackeray's onboarding of the MNS, a firebrand regional outfit that it criticised, heavily, during July's 'slapgate' and Marathi language row. It had earlier also criticised Raj Thackeray's "politics of hatred".

As a result, the party made it clear, as early as mid-November, when the reunion had not been formalised, that it will contest this round of elections on its own. The party's poll-in-charge, Ramesh Chennithala, and the chief of its Mumbai unit, Varsha Gaikwad, told reporters of a temporary parting.

RECAP | Uddhav's Sena Pushing Congress To Contest BMC Polls As Allies

The Thackeray Sena, though, has called on the Congress to return to the MVA fold, arguing that only a fully united opposition can defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance.

For now, though, Thackeray Sena – Congress ties are on ice; barring a dramatic turn of events Raj Thackeray will contest the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election with his cousin – the 'brothers reunited' storyline is an appealing one for Uddhav as he bids to regain control of a family legacy being claimed, slowly but surely, by Eknath Shinde and his Shiv Sena group.

The Congress, like Sharad Pawar's NCP, remains wary of linking its fortunes to a political party that has historically targeted, often with violence, migrant workers in the state.

The Pawar 'parivaar' story

Meanwhile, as an epilogue to all of this, the Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls will, as things stand, see a 'friendly' contest between the Congress and the NCP, which, put out by the Thackeray reunion, is ironically navigating one too.

RECAP | 'Parivar Together': Pawars Reunite For Pimpri-Chinchwad Civic Polls

Ajit Pawar - who broke from his uncle's side in July 2023 and led 18 NCP MLAs into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and was made a Deputy Chief Minister for his troubles - has found himself sidelined within that alliance, i.e., the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti.

Ajit Pawar and his uncle, Sharad Pawar (File).

Pawar junior nominating ex-minister Nawab Malik as the face of his NCP's Mumbai election campaign was met with a firm 'no' by the BJP; the party pointed to alleged links to mob boss Dawood Ibrahim.

RECAP | NCP's Sharad, Ajit 'Pawar-ing' Up For Family Reunion Before BMC Election

But the real reason, sources told NDTV, was that the support Pawar's NCP gets from Muslim and Dalit voters risked alienating the BJP's hardcore Hindu base.

The Mahayuti story

And over in the Mahayuti camp, the BJP and the Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde have completed their seat-share talls, with the latter having settled for a much lower figure. The BMC's 227 seats will be divided 130 - 97. Sources told NDTV Shinde had pushed for as many as 125 seats.

RECAP | 137-90 BJP-Sena Seat Split For Mumbai Civic Polls A Watershed Moment

But despite the prolonged negotiations, the BJP not only managed to restrict Shiv Sena's share but also emerged as the unquestioned "big brother" in the BMC alliance. Indeed, the BJP's move is widely being read as a clear signal that the party is positioning itself for the mayor's post in Mumbai.

For Shinde, who heads the "real" Shiv Sena, the outcome represents a political setback. The reduced seat share reflects the limits of his negotiating power - particularly in a civic body that has historically been synonymous with the Sena, a dominance the Thackeray brothers will hope to reclaim.

The curtain-raiser that went badly

The opposition - whether the reformed MVA or the Congress or Sharad Pawar's NCP - have much to do in little time if they are to defeat the BJP, particlarly after being thumped in the first round of civic body polls that were held in early December.

The BJP won 117 President/Chairperson posts to the Shinde Sena's 53 and Ajit Pawar's NCP's 37, while the Congress, Thackeray Sena, and NCP (Sharad Pawar) managed just 44 between themselves.

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