Varsha Gaikwad meets Sharad Pawar; discusses Mumbai civic polls

Mumbai, Nov 19 (PTI) Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday called on NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar to discuss the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

Congress has announced it will contest the Mumbai civic polls independently and will take along "like-minded" parties.

Talking to PTI, Gaikwad said Sharad Pawar is a natural ally of her party.

“He is a senior leader, and I went to meet him to discuss the civic polls and request him to join us. The civic polls are elections for party workers, which is the reason why the Congress has chosen to go solo,” she said.

The elections to the 227-member cash-rich BMC are expected to be held in January 2026. In the last civic polls held in the metropolis in 2017, the Congress had performed poorly, winning only 30 seats.

The Congress are NCP (SP) are constituents of the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which also has Shiv Sena (UBT) as the third partner.

The Sena (UBT) on Tuesday had asked the Congress to exercise restraint and avoid going solo in the BMC elections, cautioning that the move would help the BJP and weaken the MVA.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party also reminded the Congress about its leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement on “teaching a lesson” to the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

“That lesson can be taught only if the Opposition remains united,” an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana said.

The editorial also made light of the Congress’ concerns over a potential dent in its north Indian and Muslim voter base if the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is taken on board, saying the grand old party faced a rout in Bihar despite the Sena (UBT) and MNS not contesting there. PTI MR NR