Mumbai:
They run the government together in Maharashtra, but for the municipal elections in Mumbai, the Congress and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party or NCP may fight each other.
"The mood is not to ally with the Congress," acknowledged Praful Patel, who is Mr Pawar's deputy in the NCP. Mr Patel says this is not a threat, merely a reflection of the NCP's preparedness. His party, he says, has an open mind on contesting the civic polls in alliance with the Congress, but the NCP "cannot keep waiting till the last minute."
It may not have to wait much longer, in fact. Congress sources say that the Maharashtra unit has done the math and feels that the NCP is asking for too many seats. At a meeting in Mumbai, Congressmen asserted that their performance in the last municipal election was far stronger than the NCP. They won 79 seats and were first runner-up in over 100 seats. In contrast, the NCP won about 20 seats and was second choice in 40 constituencies.
The powerful Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC handles a humongous budget of Rs. 21,000 crores every year. It's currently led by the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. The election is scheduled for February.
The Congress and the NCP have been partners in the state since 1999, but had fought the 2002 and the 2007 Mumbai municipal elections separately; that had helped the Shiv Sena-BJP combine win. Already, the Sena-BJP are said to be in the final stages of negotiations seat sharing, joined this time by new ally Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India (RPI).
Congress and NCP leaders have been bickering openly in Maharashtra for a while now. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that it's a mistake for a portfolio as important as the Home Ministry to be given to his ally - this makes governance complicated, he told NDTV, after the serial blasts in Mumbai this July.
Earlier this week, Mr Chavan again suggested the political marriage seems in need of counseling. "I have seen that personalities are important, while working in a coalition. In Delhi, some in the coalition behave as if they are owners of the departments. Here also, the situation is somewhat similar," Mr Chavan said, though he added that he gets along "very well" with all NCP leaders. Unwilling to leave it at that, the NCP today retorted that in every coalition, ministers present their views, but the final decision rests with the Chief Minister. Every decision has to be passed by the Cabinet, said the NCP's Sachin Ahir, who is also a minister. He stressed that all departments therefore end up reporting to the Chief Minister.
If there is tension between the political partners in Maharashtra, at the national level Mr Pawar continues to be the Congress' go-to partner in crises. Mamata Banerjee, a senior member of the UPA coalition, attacked the government last week for raising the price of petrol, and threatened to quit. Mr Pawar, however, proved to be an invaluable ally, saying that he backed the government on deregulation.
"The mood is not to ally with the Congress," acknowledged Praful Patel, who is Mr Pawar's deputy in the NCP. Mr Patel says this is not a threat, merely a reflection of the NCP's preparedness. His party, he says, has an open mind on contesting the civic polls in alliance with the Congress, but the NCP "cannot keep waiting till the last minute."
It may not have to wait much longer, in fact. Congress sources say that the Maharashtra unit has done the math and feels that the NCP is asking for too many seats. At a meeting in Mumbai, Congressmen asserted that their performance in the last municipal election was far stronger than the NCP. They won 79 seats and were first runner-up in over 100 seats. In contrast, the NCP won about 20 seats and was second choice in 40 constituencies.
The powerful Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC handles a humongous budget of Rs. 21,000 crores every year. It's currently led by the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. The election is scheduled for February.
The Congress and the NCP have been partners in the state since 1999, but had fought the 2002 and the 2007 Mumbai municipal elections separately; that had helped the Shiv Sena-BJP combine win. Already, the Sena-BJP are said to be in the final stages of negotiations seat sharing, joined this time by new ally Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India (RPI).
Congress and NCP leaders have been bickering openly in Maharashtra for a while now. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that it's a mistake for a portfolio as important as the Home Ministry to be given to his ally - this makes governance complicated, he told NDTV, after the serial blasts in Mumbai this July.
Earlier this week, Mr Chavan again suggested the political marriage seems in need of counseling. "I have seen that personalities are important, while working in a coalition. In Delhi, some in the coalition behave as if they are owners of the departments. Here also, the situation is somewhat similar," Mr Chavan said, though he added that he gets along "very well" with all NCP leaders. Unwilling to leave it at that, the NCP today retorted that in every coalition, ministers present their views, but the final decision rests with the Chief Minister. Every decision has to be passed by the Cabinet, said the NCP's Sachin Ahir, who is also a minister. He stressed that all departments therefore end up reporting to the Chief Minister.
If there is tension between the political partners in Maharashtra, at the national level Mr Pawar continues to be the Congress' go-to partner in crises. Mamata Banerjee, a senior member of the UPA coalition, attacked the government last week for raising the price of petrol, and threatened to quit. Mr Pawar, however, proved to be an invaluable ally, saying that he backed the government on deregulation.
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