Congress signals solo fight for Mumbai civic polls

Mumbai: In a sign of a possible strain within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad on Saturday said the party is preparing to contest the upcoming polls to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) independently.

Addressing a party meeting, Mumbai Congress president Gaikwad called on party workers to resolve to "unfurl the Congress flag in the BMC".

"We must ensure the election of Congress corporators... prepare for all 227 seats," she said.

Elections to the BMC, the richest civic body in the country, are likely to be held in January 2026.

Gaikwad made the statement in the presence of senior leaders, including AICC general secretary Ramesh Chennithala and Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal.

The Congress's stand to go solo has come amid the possibility of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader, Raj Thackeray, joining hands for the civic elections.

A section of the Congress is averse to having Raj Thackeray in an alliance, given his aggressive stand against North Indian migrants.

Gaikwad said that earlier, when reporters asked Chennithala if the party would go it alone in the BMC polls, he had maintained that such decisions were left to the local units.

"We have conveyed to him (Chennithala) that Congress leaders and workers want to go alone, along with like-minded parties and groups," she said, adding that office-bearers have been briefed on the organisational preparations.

The Lok Sabha MP urged party workers to hit the ground for the next two months and remain alert about the voters' list.

The Congress aligned with its long-time rival, Shiv Sena, in 2019 to form the MVA, along with the NCP. The split in the Shiv Sena and NCP in 2022 and 2023 saw their rival factions ally with the ruling BJP.

In 2024, the Congress could only manage to get two of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai and 10 out of 36 assembly seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) having an upper hand in the seat-sharing.