BMC polls 2026: Congress, Prakash Ambedkar's VBA seal alliance, finalise seat-sharing pact
BMC polls 2026: Of the 227 seats in the BMC, the Congress will field its candidates on 165 seats. On the other hand, the VBA will contest on 62 seats.
Days before the polling for elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Congress and Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) have sealed an alliance and finalised the seat-sharing pact, they announced on Sunday. The development comes following multiple rounds of discussions and meetings between top leaders of the two parties.
Of the 227 seats in the BMC, the Congress will field its candidates on 165 seats. On the other hand, the VBA will contest on 62 seats.
The Congress is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which also comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-UBT and Sharad Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). For the BMC elections, the Sena-UBT have sealed an alliance with Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a move Congress has repeatedly criticised.
The grand old party has said that it is against all 'divisive' and 'communal' forces which is why it is opposing Sena-UBT's alliance with the MNS. Earlier, the party had said it would contest the BMC polls alone, but later reports emerged that the Congress is mulling an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar's party.
The polling for the elections to all municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the BMC, will take place on January 15. The results were will be declared on January 16.
MVA's rout and Mahayuti's emphatic victory
Earlier, the Mahayuti - alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and the NCP - swept the municipal council and nagar panchayat elections in Maharashtra, in what was considered as a litmus test for it following the coalition's success in the 2024 assembly elections in the state.
According to the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC), the BJP won 117 posts of municipal presidents, Shiv Sena won 53, and the NCP won 37 posts. The Congress bagged 28, the NCP (SP) seven, and Shiv Sena (UBT) nine. The parties registered with the SEC bagged four seats, while 28 seats of municipal presidents went to unrecognised registered parties. Five seats were won by Independents, the poll body said.