THANE: A rare alliance between BJP and Congress has emerged in the township of Ambernath after recent local body elections, surprising political observers and party cadres. BJP has joined hands with councillors from Congress and the Ajit Pawar-headed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi and take control of a municipal council in the Mumbai region, keeping Shiv Sena out of office.The polls were held last month, during which Shiv Sena and BJP, despite being allies at the state and national levels, contested separately. In the 60-member council, Sena emerged the single-largest party, winning 27 seats. BJP secured 14 seats, while Congress won 12. Ajit Pawar-headed NCP managed to win four seats, and two independents were also elected. Shiv Sena, however, suffered a setback in election to the municipal president’s post, where its candidate Manisha Walekar lost to BJP nominee Tejashree Karanjule Patil. BJP captured the president’s position, but lacked the numerical strength among councillors to run the civic body independently. In a municipal council, which functions in a manner largely similar to a municipal corporation, the president has the authority to decide which issues are taken up for discussion in General Body meetings. However, when it comes to passing a proposal or resolution by consensus, the matter must be approved by a majority vote. To overcome the lack of a majority, BJP initiated talks with opposition parties at the local level. The negotiations culminated on Tuesday with the formation of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi. The Congress state brass said “no formal proposal” for a tie-up has been received yet, but the alliance announced in Ambernath includes 14 BJP corporators, a BJP-backed municipal president, 12 Congress corporators, four NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) corporators, and one independent, giving the coalition a combined strength of 32 – crossing the majority mark in the 60-member council. BJP corporator Abhijit Karanjule Patil has been appointed group leader of the alliance. Speaking to TOI, Abhijit said BJP had contested the elections against corruption and a culture of intimidation under the Shiv Sena’s long rule in the civic body. “Our objective was to free the municipal administration from fear and corruption and to ensure development in Ambernath. Keeping that goal in mind, we formed this alliance.” The move has drawn sharp criticism from Sena. Party netas have termed the Aghadi as an “unethical and opportunistic arrangement.” Shiv Sena MLA from Ambernath, Balaji Kinikar, said that while the BJP campaigns nationally for a “Congress-free India,” it has strengthened Congress at the municipal level for the sake of power. A Congress neta said the options are either aligning with BJP or the Shinde faction or remaining absent. However, no formal proposal for an alliance has been received by the Congress, he said, and no decision has been taken so far.
