By Srijita Chakraborty
As Maharashtra awaits the declaration of municipal corporation election results on Friday, the state’s political landscape is marked by shifting alliances, tactical tie-ups and a rise in independent contests. Voting for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began at 7.30 am on Thursday under tight security and is scheduled to continue until 5.30 pm. As Maharashtra heads into crucial municipal elections, the alliance picture across cities underlines a central reality of the state’s politics: coalitions are tactical arrangements, not enduring commitments.
In Mumbai, the ruling-side combine of the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ramdas Athawale’s RPI faces a counter-bloc bringing together Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), Raj Thackeray’s MNS and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. Congress has opted for a separate understanding with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA), while Ajit Pawar’s NCP is charting an independent course — highlighting how city-level equations diverge sharply from broader opposition unity claims.
Meanwhile in Pune, the BJP has allied with the RPI (Athawale), while the two factions of the NCP are fighting the election together. Congress on the other hand has allied with the Sena (UBT) and the MNS. This is more a result of the calculations based on the ward system.
Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Nagpur are places where old rivalries have continued to coexist despite the existence of common blocs, with Ajit Pawar’s NCP, Congress, and VBA often opting to contest independently.
The presence of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Vasai-Virar can be understood from the angle of identity politics, and here the role of AIMIM, Bahujan Vikas
At the city level, realities of wards may clash with city-level announcements, as voters cultivate awareness of corporators, over party symbols, creating pressures on transactional coalitions.
Some of the significant alliances are
Mumbai
- BJP – Shiv Sena – RPI (Athawale) alliance
- Shiv Sena (UBT) – MNS – NCP (Sharad Pawar) alliance
- NCP (Ajit Pawar)
- Congress – Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA)
Pune
- BJP – RPI (Athawale) alliance
- Both NCP factions together
- Congress – Shiv Sena (UBT) – MNS alliance
Thane
- BJP – Shiv Sena alliance
- Shiv Sena (UBT) – MNS – NCP (Sharad Pawar)
- alliance
- NCP (Ajit Pawar)
- Congress
- Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA)
Navi Mumbai
- BJP Shiv Sena
- MNS – Shiv Sena (UBT) alliance
- NCP (Sharad Pawar)
- NCP (Ajit Pawar)
- Congress
Nagpur
- BJP – Shiv Sena alliance
- Congress
- Shiv Sena (UBT)
- NCP (Sharad Pawar)
- NCP (Ajit Pawar)
- Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA)
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
- BJP
- Shiv Sena
- Shiv Sena (UBT)
- AIMIM
- NCP
- Congress-NCP (SP) alliance
Vasai-Virar
- BJP – Shiv Sena alliance
- Bahujan Vikas Aghadi – MNS alliance
- NCP (Ajit Pawar)
- Congress
Kolhapur
- BJP – Shiv Sena – NCP (Ajit Pawar) – ROI
- (Kawade) alliance
- Congress – Shiv Sena (UBT) alliance
- NCP (Sharad Pawar) – Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi
- (VBA) – AAP alliance
(Source: TOI)