Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s party included in the grand alliance government of Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Have decided to contest the elections alone. Sources say that BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena will contest the elections together in alliance, but due to lack of agreement on seat sharing with NCP, Ajit Pawar has adopted the strategy of “Go Alone”.
Two main reasons behind fighting alone
- Problem of number and distribution of seats,
There are total 227 seats in BMC. Due to the strong support base of BJP and Shinde faction, they were ready to give less seats to NCP, which was not acceptable to Ajit Pawar. - NCP’s weak support base in Mumbai,
NCP’s support base is relatively weak in urban areas of Mumbai. Contesting elections in alliance would have given him limited seats, which would have affected his party’s expansion prospects. By contesting the elections alone, NCP will try to strengthen its base in Mumbai.
Current scenario of Mahayuti government
The Mahayuti alliance got a decisive majority in the November 2024 assembly elections in Maharashtra. BJP emerged as the largest party with 132 seats and formed the grand coalition government. Shiv Sena got 57 seats and NCP 41 seats. However, Ajit Pawar’s party did not get a single seat in the urban areas of Mumbai.
This will be the first time that NCP will contest alone in the BMC elections. Its objective is not only to win electoral seats but also to increase the party’s political base in Mumbai.
future strategy
This move by Ajit Pawar may affect the role and strategy of NCP in the BMC elections as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. It will be interesting to see how much this “walk alone” policy benefits the NCP.
