Congress to decide on Monday about going solo in BMC elections: Chavan

New Delhi: There is a "very strong opinion" within the Maharashtra Congress that the party should go solo in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Tuesday.

His remarks came a day after the Congress said it will decide on July 7 whether it will fight the BMC elections in alliance or go it solo in the contest.

In an interview with PTI, Chavan also said that in local body elections to zila parishads and panchayat samitis, the Congress usually lets the district unit take a call.

However, any alliance even in those polls will only be with the three parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and like-minded parties and not with any Mahayuti party, he said.

Asked whether the Congress would fight the BMC elections in alliance or go it solo, Chavan said, "There are two opinions about it. One is that the Congress flag should go to every booth, every household. If you fight in a multi-party alliance, we have to give up some constituencies.

"Our experience in the assembly elections was very bad. Some of our alliance partners insisted on fighting seats where they had absolutely no base and they were given those tickets and we found out that they are getting just 2,000 votes. So definitely we suffered. We could have scored at least four-five extra seats in Mumbai and multiple seats in other places," he said.

"There is a very strong opinion that at least in Mumbai corporation election, the Congress should fight separately," he added.

Chavan pointed out that there was an important element of minority vote as well as North Indian and South Indian vote.

"Some of the voters are traditionally Congress voters. Are we losing them to other parties? A sense was taken yesterday (in Delhi meeting) to what people think, a final decision was not taken. What Mumbai leaders stated is what has appeared in the newspapers that they would like to fight separately," the Congress leader said.

He said the Congress will not have any alliance with any Mahayuti party even in local body polls.

"On the other hand, Mahayuti constituents have decided 'you align with any party you want'. I think they are also going to fight separately. So it was a exploratory meeting about what the leaders think about," Chavan said.

Ultimately, the decision will be taken by the alliance committee in Delhi, he asserted.

Asked about his opinion, Chavan said he won't give his opinion publicly and he has communicated his opinion to the party high command.

On Monday, AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra unit, Ramesh Chennithala, held a meeting of senior leaders from the state.

He had said the Congress will decide on July 7 whether it will fight the BMC elections in alliance or go it solo in the contest.

Chennithala had said the party will also consult its local leaders on the issue for other local body elections across Maharashtra.

Senior party leaders from the state including Chavan, Rajani Patil, Pradesh Congress president Harshwardhan Vasantrao Sapkal and former PCC chief Nana Patole were present in the meeting held here. They later met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence and briefed him about the discussions.