Shiv Sena-BJP talks for Mumbai civic body polls in final stages; Congress seals alliance with VBA

Mumbai/Pune, Dec 28 (PTI) With only two days left before the nominations process for the civic polls in Maharashtra closes, the ruling and opposition camps are rushing against time to form alliances and finalise seat-sharing agreements amid the shifting political dynamics.

In a crucial development, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced an alliance between his NCP, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti combine, and the NCP (SP), led by his uncle Sharad Pawar, for the Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls, saying the “parivar” (family) has come together.

"For the sake of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, the ‘clock’ and the ‘tutari’ have united. The parivar has come together,” he said.

Pawar urged party workers to work hard and refrain from making any controversial comments during rallies.

"We are the ones who work for development. We will edge out those who tried to put this municipal corporation in debt," he said.

Meanwhile, talks between the two parties are underway for a tie-up for the Pune Municipal Corporation polls.

The NCP is contesting solo in Mumbai.

Separately, Mahayuti members, the BJP, and Shiv Sena, which is led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, have reached a consensus on 207 of 227 seats for the Mumbai civic body.

The BJP will contesting 128, and the Shiv Sena 79 seats, respectively, BJP's city chief Amit Satam said.

Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant, however, refused to divulge the seat-sharing arrangement, saying the talks with the BJP are in the final stages.

"It is certain that the polls will be contested by the ruling parties as Mahayuti. Seat-sharing talks are in the final stages. Instead of talking about who gets how many seats, we are contesting 227 seats as Mahayuti," Samant told reporters.

A Sena leader had earlier said deadlock over seats persists between the two parties, and talks are still underway for civic bodies in Mira Bhayander, Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Kalyan Dombivli.

Elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra will be held on January 15. The last date to file the nominations is December 30.

The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Sunday announced its first list of 37 candidates for the BMC polls.

The second list is expected soon, party MLA Sana Malik told reporters.

BJP city chief Ameet Satam had ruled out any truck with the NCP, saying its leader Nawab Malik was in-charge of the party’s election management for the BMC polls. Malik has been accused of being involved in money laundering and having links with Dawood Ibrahim’s associates.

In the opposition camp, the Congress and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by B.R. Ambedkar's grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, announced an alliance for the BMC polls, with the VBA set to contest 62 of the 227 seats.

Congress will contest more than 150 seats, while some seats will be allocated to the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and RPI (Gavai), sources said.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said that decisions on alliances for the remaining 28 municipal corporations in the state would be taken at the local level, and both parties had authorised their local leaderships to take appropriate calls.

The Congress is expected to announce its nominees soon. Its screening committee met on Sunday to clear the list of candidates.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced 51 candidates so far. PTI MR COR PR ND ARU BNM NR NSK