Mumbai:
When local body elections are spoken about in Maharashtra, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation hogs most of the limelight by virtue of being one of the richest civic bodies in Asia. This time, however, the relatively unknown Ambernath Municipal Council is giving the Mumbai juggernaut a tough fight and, in the process, highlighting just how complex the Maharashtra political landscape has become since the NCP and the Shiv Sena became two NCPs and two Senas.
The first shock came on Tuesday, when it emerged that the BJP had tied up with the Congress in the 60-member council to keep its ally Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) – which emerged as the single largest party – out of power. This was done with the help of Ajit Pawar’s NCP, also an ally at the state level, which has itself been kept out of alliances by the BJP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena in several places, including the BMC.
The BJP-Congress tie-up caused a flutter in both parties. While the Congress dissolved the Ambernath unit and suspended 12 leaders for allying with the saffron party, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked his party to cut ties with the Congress, saying such an alliance was not acceptable.
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