Mumbai, Dec 31 (IANS) In an unprecedented political development, the traditional battle lines of Maharashtra politics have dissolved into chaos ahead of the upcoming elections for 29 Municipal Corporations. The state’s major political fronts — the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — have failed to maintain a uniform seat-sharing formula, leading to a confusing scenario where allies in one city are bitter rivals in another.
As of Tuesday, which was the last day for filing nominations, the political landscape is so fragmented that leaders may find themselves attacking a party in an afternoon rally in one city, only to praise the same party in another city by the evening.
Until Monday, it was expected that the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena would contest most seats together. However, by Tuesday, several cracks appeared in the Mahayuti alliance. Similarly, the Congress has formed different local tie-ups across various cities, further complicating the MVA’s national image of unity.
In a surprise move, the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar — who are rivals at the state level, have joined hands for the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections. Conversely, Ajit Pawar’s NCP, which is contesting solo in Nagpur, has formed an alliance with the BJP in Akola.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance has failed to reach an agreement in 24 out of 29 municipal corporations. In these cities, the constituent parties (BJP, Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP) will contest against one another. The impacted cities include Jalna, Parbhani, Latur, Amravati, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Solapur, Akola, Malegaon, Nanded, Nagpur, Sangli, Nashik, Dhule, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi, and Vasai-Virar.
The BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar) alliance is limited to only Akola, Ahilyanagar, and Panvel. On the other hand, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance is formed only in Chandrapur, Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, and Bhiwandi. Further, the Mahayuti parties will face off directly in four locations: Ichalkaranji (friendly fights), Kolhapur, Jalgaon, and Panvel.
As far as Maha Vikas Aghadi is concerned, it has also seen widespread fragmentation, with the alliance breaking down in 17 locations, including Nagpur, Malegaon, Parbhani, Latur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded, Sangli, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi, and Vasai-Virar.
The MVA remains intact in only five locations: Panvel, Jalna, Solapur (including MNS), Nashik (including MNS), and Dhule. Moreover, the Congress has allied with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) only in Mumbai. A similar attempt was made in Pune but failed due to conflicts between local leaders.
In the case of Thackeray-MNS-Sharad Pawar” factor, these parties have joined hands in Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar and Kalyan-Dombivli.
Some of the key cities witness a flurry of activities to stitch alliances, though some parties at the last minute decided to take a U-turn. In Mumbai, a multi-cornered battle emerges. Congress has allied with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) has joined forces with MNS and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. The BJP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena remain united here.
In Pune, in a rare display of “family unity”, the Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar factions of the NCP have formed an alliance. They face a front consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena(UBT), and MNS. The BJP is allied with the RPI, while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is contesting solo.
In Thane, the BJP and Shiv Sena are contesting together, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is going solo. On the other side, Shiv Sena(UBT), MNS and Sharad Pawar’s NCP have tied up while Congress is fighting independently.
Nagpur, which is CM Devendra Fadnavis’s home turf, sees a BJP-Shinde Sena alliance. However, the Congress, BSP, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP are all contesting independently.
In Pimpri-Chinchwad, similar to Pune, both NCP factions are united. The BJP remains with RPI, while the Shinde Sena, Congress, and VBA are all going solo. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Latur see a complete breakdown of major alliances, with BJP, Shinde Sena, and Shiv Sena(UBT) all contesting independently.
The “pick-and-choose” nature of these local alliances has left voters and party workers bewildered. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who will campaign together in Mumbai and Thane, will be forced to campaign against each other’s candidates in several other corporations.
The data indicate that local political equations have completely superseded state-level pacts. With the Mahayuti split in 24 cities, and the MVA in 17, these elections will feature highly localised and multi-cornered contests.
Political analysts suggest that this “unprecedented swapping of friends and foes” reflects the high stakes of local body elections, where regional dominance often outweighs state-level ideological pacts. With no clear “opponent” common across the 29 corporations, the 2026 municipal elections are set to be the most unpredictable in Maharashtra’s history.
(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)
–IANS
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