Mumbai civic body polls: BJP to contest 137 seats, Shiv Sena 90

Mumbai, Dec 29 (PTI) Ruling allies BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will contest 137 and 90 seats, respectively, in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls.

A seat-sharing pact was revealed by Mumbai BJP president Amit Satam on Monday, following hectic parleys a day before the deadline for filing nomination papers closes on December 30.

Both parties will allocate some seats from their respective quotas to alliance partners, Satam added.

Candidates of both parties will file their nomination papers on Tuesday.

Another constituent of Mahayuti, the NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls separately.

The NCP has so far announced 64 candidates for the BMC polls.

Elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the high-stakes Mumbai, will be held on January 15, and votes will be counted the next day.

In the BMC elections held in 2017 for 227 seats, the BJP made giant strides in the Shiv Sena citadel of Mumbai, winning 82 seats, just two seats behind the estranged ally Shiv Sena (undivided).

The Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP (undivided) and Raj Thackeray's MNS were reduced to 9 and 7 seats, respectively.

AIMIM had won three seats on debut, Samajwadi Party six, Akhil Bhartiya Sena one, and Independents four. PTI PR NSK