Maharashtra | Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction may contest BMC polls alone

In a major development, Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is likely to contest the upcoming BMC elections alone, sources said. The NCP (AP) is a part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance that also comprises the BJP and the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena.

However, the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena are likely to contest the polls in alliance.

Also read: No MVA, Shiv Sena (UBT) to go it alone in local bodies polls

According to the sources, there are two main reasons for the decision. The first is that there are only 227 seats in BMC. Due to fewer seats, it is becoming difficult for the BJP and the Shinde Sena to accommodate NCP (AP) in the alliance. Secondly, NCP (AP) doesn’t have much support base in Mumbai, and therefore even if it contests in alliance, it will get fewer seats. In this scenario, Ajit Pawar is likely to contest alone, as he intends to expand his party’s base in Mumbai.

Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray, a key constituent of Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), had announce that it will go solo in the local body elections in Maharashtra, including the BMC polls. The Sena (UBT) move had sparked speculations whether the MVA was falling apart after the drubbing in the Maharashtra Assembly elections in November last year.

Interestingly, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule had virtually backed the Sena (UBT) move by saying that political parties usually contest the local body elections alone and there was nothing new in it. However, other leaders of the party like Jitendra Ahwad felt that it wasn’t a good development and would weaken the MVA in Maharashtra.