Mahavikas Aghadi breaks up in Maharashtra, Uddhav’s Shiv Sena and Congress separate

BMC Election: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are to be held next month. BMC elections are going to be held with a delay of almost 3 years. Before this, there was a big split in the opposition camp. There is political turmoil due to Congress’s announcement. Congress has refused to contest the elections in alliance with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. The party said that it is not going to form an alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) in the BMC elections. The party has made it clear that it will not form any alliance with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) in the BMC elections. However, this decision will not be applicable to 28 other municipal elections in the state. After this announcement by Congress, once again all eyes are on Sharad Pawar. A period of speculation has begun regarding what his next step will be.

Maharashtra Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala made this announcement after a meeting with local party officials in Mumbai. He said that Congress will contest the BMC elections on its own or with like-minded parties. Under this, Congress will try to bring together parties like Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar. Speaking to the media along with Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad, Chennithala said, ‘We will contest against both BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) in the BMC elections.’ He told that this is a local body election and the local leaders had expressed their desire to contest the elections alone, which was accepted by the party leadership.

Congress searched for a new partner

Congress leader Chennithala also said that he has spoken to Prakash Ambedkar on phone and a Congress delegation will meet him on Sunday to discuss the alliance. He said that talks on alliance with like-minded parties are ongoing. Varsha Gaikwad said that the election agenda of Congress will be ‘development, not controversy’. He said that the party is against divisive politics done in the name of caste, religion, region and language. Issues like increasing pollution in the city and alleged corruption in the municipal corporation will be prominent in the BMC elections.

What is the planning?

Ramesh Chennithala said that Congress will put before the public a charge sheet regarding corruption in BMC and a separate manifesto will also be issued for the development of Mumbai city. Apart from this, Chennithala held a separate meeting with Maharashtra Congress President Harsh Vardhan Sapkal and other state leaders and discussed the strategy for other municipal elections. He clarified that where local workers wish, alliance with other parties including allies of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will be allowed. However, he also indicated to maintain distance from Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).