
In a major development, sources claimed that Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is likely to contest the upcoming MumbiaBMC elections alone. Meanwhile, the BJP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena are likely to contest the polls in coalition.
According to the sources, there are two main reasons for the decision. The first reason is that there are only 227 seats in BMC. Due to fewer seats, it is becoming difficult for the BJP and Shiv Sena to accommodate NCP (AP) in the alliance. Secondly, NCP (AP) has a very low support base in Mumbai. If it contests in the alliance, it will get fewer seats. Since Pawar wants to expand his party's base in Mumbai, he is likely to contest alone.
Earlier on Saturday (January 11), Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also announced that his party will go to local body polls alone. Uddhav Sena has been a constituent of Maha Vikas Aghadi, the main opposition bloc with Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP as constituents, in Maharashtra.
Notably, BJP, NCP, and Shiv Sena are running a coalition government in Maharashtra. The Mahayuti government was formed after the alliance won a decisive majority in the November 2024 assembly election. BJP emerged as the single largest party with 132 seats.
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