Mumbai: Three-way storm brews within BMC elections battle

The upcoming BMC elections may turn into a threecornered contest with the Congress likely to contest alone and even exploring the possibility of bringing Sharad Pawarrsquos NCPSP on boardIf Congress goes solo and whether the NCP Sharad Pawar faction joins it or not the equation becomes clear The battle will be between the BJP and Eknath Shindersquos Shiv Sena the Thackeray cousins and the Congress with whichever allies it manages to retainCongress Mumbai President Varsha Gaikwad and party MLAs met Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday After the meeting Gaikwad indicated that the Congress is considering contesting the civic polls independentlyShe said the party cannot be part of any alliance that includes a group attacking nonMarathispeaking communities Her comment was a clear reference to Raj Thackerayrsquos MNS which has almost finalised an alliance with Uddhav Thackerayrsquos Shiv Sena UBT a key member of the MVAFrom left NCPSP MP Supriya Sule Congress MP Dr Jyoti Gaikwad Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh NCPSP chief Sharad Pawar Congress Mumbai President Varsha Gaikwad Congress MLA Amin Patel and Congress leader Ravi Bavkar after the meeting on Wednesday PicXVarshaEGaikwadIn 2019 to keep the BJP out of power the Sena undivided NCP and Congress came together to form the MVA Now with the cousins joining hands to oppose the proposed threelanguage rule in schools the MVA faces an internal fracture ahead of the cityrsquos most highstakes electionIf Congress contests alone Opposition votes will split sharply This could isolate the UddhavRaj alliance and further weaken the MVAAdding to the churn Gaikwad said the Congress is exploring the possibility of tying up with Sharad Pawarrsquos NCPSP calling it a natural ally Pawar has not responded yet and the political class is awaiting his moveThese developments are expected to make the BMC battle easier for the ruling BJP and Shinde Both parties are firm on contesting together in Mumbai regardless of whether the alliances hold in other municipal corporationsConcerned by Congressrsquos moves Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut has repeatedly urged Congress to reconsiderFor nearly twentyfive years the undivided Shiv Sena and BJP ruled the BMC together In 2017 they split and contested separately Sena won eightyfour seats BJP eightytwo Congress twentynine NCP nine and MNS sevenIn 2022 Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena and later became the chief minister More than half of Uddhav Thackerayrsquos corporators then shifted to Shindersquos camp Now both the BJP and Shinde are pushing to capture one of Asiarsquos richest civic bodiesFor the Thackeray cousins these polls are critical Uddhav is weakened by defections while Rajrsquos party has been losing relevance and sees the election as a chance at revival Secondrank leaders from both camps have begun early seatsharing talks for the 227 wards227No of BMC wards in MumbaiCracks in MahayutiOn Wednesday Eknath Shinde was expected to attend a function in Mumbai along with Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar Instead he skipped the event and flew to Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah His sudden visit has triggered speculation about tension within the Mahayuti alliance especially after Shindersquos party complained to Fadnavis on Tuesday about BJP poaching their leaders