Congress and NCP have 450 candidates vying for 69 general category seats in BMC polls.
The Congress and the NCP have agreed to have an open-ended alliance in the local bodies’ elections.
The decision to have an alliance for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections for 227seats will depend on the Congress’ ability to part with sizeable number of seats for the NCP.
In principle, both the Congress and the NCP want to join hands to wipe out the 15-year rule of the Sena-BJP in BMC. The three top leaders of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) — Mumbai chief Kripashankar Singh, former Union ministers Gurudas Kamat and Murli Deora — are already lobbying to accommodate more Congress candidates.
Similarly, the NCP is building up pressure for more seats in the BMC elections.
“Out of 227 seats, 50% is reserved for women candidates, 27% is reserved for SC/ST/Other Backward Castes and only 33% for general category candidates,” said sources in the MRCC.
“In the general category, we have only 69 seats out of 227 seats. And the number of applications for the elections in both Congress and NCP is 450,” they added.
Local leadership in the MRCC has indicated that the alliance with the NCP can be possible if they admit secondary position in case of Mumbai.
The Congress’ in-house report, which has been conveyed to the All India Congress Committee (AICC), indicates that the NCP strength in Mumbai is limited to 40-45 seats.
“The alliance is inevitable if we have to avoid a split in the secular votes to defeat Sena-BJP. The seat-sharing formula can always be worked out through mutual understanding. The Congress should also realise our growth in the last five years in Mumbai,” said Madhukar Picchad, state NCP chief.
The AICC has asked the state Congress and Mumbai Congress to prepare a detail report seat-wise across the regions, pointing the Congress’ and NCP’s stronghold.
Formal meetings, which are in process at the state-level indicate that the Congress and the NCP, are not poised to make an alliance in all the 14 municipal corporations, 27 zilla parishads, 106 municipal councils and 310 panchayats.
“We are working towards an alliance between the Congress and the NCP in Mumbai and Thane. But we are not going to have an alliance in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. In Ratnagiri, the local NCP leaders want an alliance with the Congress. In Nashik, an attempt is being made to bring all secular parties on a common platform to defeat Sena-BJP-MNS,” the Congress said.
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