Alliances Blur Ahead of Municipal Polls in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Political equations in Maharashtra are changing ahead of elections to 29 municipal corporations on January 15; The ruling Mahayuti and the opposition MVA are abandoning any attempt at a uniform seat-sharing formula, triggering fragmentation and multilateral contests.

When nomination filings closed Tuesday, parties formed city-specific alliances, forcing leaders to criticize a party in one city while sharing platforms in another city on the same day.

Until Monday, the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena looked set to contest together on most seats. But cracks appeared in Mahayuti on Tuesday. Congress also created different local regulations in many cities, blurring the MVA’s image of unity envisioned at the state level.

Rival NCP factions led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar have joined hands for the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections despite their rivals in state politics. In contrast, Ajit Pawar’s NCP chose to contest alone in Nagpur while aligning with the BJP in Akola.

Mahayuti failed to finalize seat sharing in 24 out of 29 municipal corporations, pushing his voters (BJP, Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP) into direct contest with each other. These cities include Jalna, Parbhani, Latur, Amravati, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Solapur, Akola, Malegaon, Nanded, Nagpur, Sangli, Nashik, Dhule, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi and Vasai-Virar.

While the BJP and Ajit Pawar’s NCP restricted their alliance to Akola, Ahilyanagar and Panvel, the BJP and Shiv Sena came together only in Chandrapur, Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Bhiwandi.

Mahayuti partners also locked horns in Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, Jalgaon and Panvel.

The MVA also saw a similar lack of unity in 17 municipal corporations, including Nagpur, Malegaon, Parbhani, Latur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded, Sangli, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi and Vasai-Virar. The Congress alliance, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) coexisted in only five places: Panvel, Jalna, Solapur (including MNS), Nashik (with MNS) and Dhule.

While the Congress tied up with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) led by Dr BR Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar only in Mumbai, efforts to replicate the alliance in Pune collapsed due to resistance from local leaders. Shiv Sena (UBT), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) joined hands in Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar and Kalyan-Dombivli.

Many major cities witnessed last-minute negotiations, but the parties eventually reversed the decisions, preferring to fight independently.

Mumbai, with a civilian budget of over Rs 74,000 million, has emerged as a major battleground. While Congress has allied with VBA and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP), Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) has allied with MNS and NCP (SP). The BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena have decided to contest together in the metropolis.

While the BJP will get 137 of the 227 electoral wards under the seat-sharing arrangement, the Shiv Sena will contest in 90 seats. RPI candidates will contest from seats within the BJP quota.

Congress, VBA and RSP will participate in the 139th, 62nd and 10th competition respectively. While Sena (UBT) was nominated in 164 seats, its Mumbai partners MNS and NCP (SP) had 53 and 10 seats respectively. Ajit Pawar’s NCP will contest as an independent on 60-70 seats.

In a “family unity” rally in Pune, NCP’s Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar factions will face an alliance comprising Congress, Sena (UBT) and MNS. While the BJP partnered with the Republican Party of India (RPI), Shinde’s Shiv Sena chose to go it alone.

In Thane, the BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena are contesting together, while the NCP is fighting alone. On the opposition side, Sena (UBT), MNS and Sharad Pawar’s NCP have joined hands, while the Congress is contesting as an independent.

In Nagpur, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s home turf, the BJP and Shinde Sena have formed an alliance, while the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Ajit Pawar’s NCP are contesting separately. In Pimpri-Chinchwad, both NCP factions have united while the BJP has formed an alliance with the RPI while the Shinde Sena, Congress and VBA are fighting on their own.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Latur witnessed the complete collapse of major alliances with the BJP, Shinde Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT) choosing to contest independently.

Although Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will campaign together in Mumbai and Thane, they will also campaign against each other’s candidates in several other corporations.

The emerging picture shows that local political equations trump state-level agreements. With Mahayuti divided into 24 cities and MVA into 17 cities, the elections are expected to witness intense local and multi-faceted contests.

Political analysts say this “unprecedented shifting of friends and foes” underscores the high risk of local body elections, where regional dominance outweighs ideological consistency. They said the elections, in which there is no common rival among the 29 companies, will be the most unpredictable in the political history of Maharashtra.

The upcoming local elections will be held on January 15 and votes will be counted the next day.