THANE: A rare alliance between BJP and Congress has emerged in Ambernath municipality after the recent municipal elections, surprising political observers and party cadres. The BJP has joined hands with councilors from the Congress and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi and take control of a municipal council in the Mumbai region Shiv Sena not in office.The elections were held last month in which Shiv Sena and BJP, despite being allies at the state and national levels, contested separately. In the 60-member council, Sena became the largest single party with 27 seats. The BJP secured 14 seats while the Congress won 12 seats. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP managed to win four seats and two independents were also elected. However, Shiv Sena suffered a setback in the municipal corporation election where its candidate Manisha Walekar lost to BJP candidate Tejashree Karanjule Patil. The BJP captured the position of president but lacked the numerical strength among the councilors to run the civic body independently. In a local council, which functions in much the same way as a municipal corporation, the president has the power to decide what issues will be discussed at general meeting meetings. However, when it comes to adopting a proposal or resolution by consensus, the matter must be approved by a majority vote. To overcome the lack of a majority, the BJP started talks with opposition parties at the local level. The negotiations culminated on Tuesday with the formation of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi. Congress state officials said “no formal proposal” for a merger has been received yet, but the alliance announced in Ambernath includes 14 BJP members, a BJP-backed municipal president, 12 Congress members, four NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) members and an independent, giving the coalition a total 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 that the BJP was contesting the elections against corruption and a culture of intimidation under the Shiv Sena’s long rule in the civic body. “Our aim was to free the city administration from fear and corruption and ensure development in Ambernath. With this goal in mind, we formed this alliance.” The move drew sharp criticism from Sena. Party netas have described the Aghadi as an “unethical and opportunistic agreement”. Shiv Sena MP Balaji Kinikar from Ambernath said that while the BJP was committed to a “Congress-free India” across the country, it had strengthened the Congress at the local level for power reasons. A Congress neta said the options were to either align with the BJP or Shinde faction or remain absent. However, no formal proposal for an alliance has been received by Congress, he said, and no decision has been made yet.
