MUMBAI: The Congress has suspended all its municipal councillors in Ambernath, along with the block president of the area, after they decided to align with the BJP-led Ambernath Vikas Aghadi to secure power in the civic body.
Despite ideological differences, local leaders of the BJP and Congress came together in Ambernath along with other parties to sideline the single-largest party, the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction).
This is not a good thing: CongressVice President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), Ganesh Patil, wrote a letter to the Ambernath Congress block president, Pradeep Patil, communicating the party’s decision.
The letter stated, "We have fought elections on Congress symbol and we won 12 seats, but without informing the state leadership or the state office, you have done alliance with BJP and this has come to our knowledge through media sources.
This is not a good thing, so as per instructions by the state president, Harshwardhan, you are being suspended from the party."
The suspension underscores growing tensions within the Congress over local-level alliances that contradict the party’s stated ideological position, particularly as civic elections approach in major urban centres across Maharashtra.
Not acceptable: Devendra FadnavisMeanwhile, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has conveyed his strong displeasure over such local-level political arrangements and has asked BJP units to end their alliances with the AIMIM in Akot and with the Congress in Ambernath.
“Alliance with Congress and AIMIM is not acceptable. It will have to be broken," he said.
Here's what happenedThe political standoff took a new turn on Tuesday when the BJP and Congress, traditional rivals, joined hands in a rare local-level alliance to keep the Shiv Sena out of power in one of its strongholds, which falls within the parliamentary constituency of MP Shrikant Shinde.
In the municipal elections held on December 20, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party with 27 seats in the 60-member council, falling four short of a majority.
The BJP won 14 seats, the Congress secured 12, Ajit Pawar–led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won four, and two independents were elected.
The third partner in the BJP-Congress combine, named the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi, is the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP.
The Shiv Sena suffered a setback in the municipal president’s election, where its candidate Manisha Walekar lost to BJP’s Tejashree Karanjule Patil.
The alliance between political rivals has taken party cadres by surprise, particularly as elections approach in larger cities such as Mumbai and Thane. BJP sources said local leaders had been authorised to take decisions in municipal polls, while a Congress state spokesperson said "no decision has been taken so far".
BJP corporator Abhijit Karanjule Patil has been appointed group leader of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi, which comprises BJP councillors along with members of the Congress and the Ajit Pawar–led NCP.
Speaking to TOI, Patil said the BJP had fought the elections against corruption and intimidation under the Shiv Sena’s long rule in the civic body. "Our objective was to free the administration from fear and corruption and to ensure development in Ambernath. Keeping that in mind, we formed this alliance," he said.
While the BJP secured the post of municipal president, it lacked the numbers to govern independently. Under municipal council rules, the president’s powers are similar to those of a mayor, but decisions and resolutions must be approved by a majority vote in the general body. To bridge this gap, the BJP initiated talks with opposition parties at the local level, culminating in the formation of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi on Tuesday.
According to party leaders, the alliance currently includes 14 BJP corporators, a BJP-backed municipal president, 12 Congress councillors, four from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and one independent, taking the coalition’s strength to 32 and crossing the majority mark.
The Congress state leadership said "no formal proposal" for an alliance had been received, though the local tie-up had already been announced.
The development has drawn sharp criticism from the Shiv Sena, which termed the alliance an "unethical and opportunistic arrangement". Sena MLA from Ambernath, Balaji Kinikar, said that while the BJP campaigns nationally for a "Congress-free India", it had strengthened the Congress at the municipal level to retain power. He alleged that talks had been held with BJP leaders, but the party opted to align with Congress instead.
Several attempts to contact the Congress’s Ambernath city president Pradeep Patil were unsuccessful. A Congress spokesperson said that in Ambernath, the choices were either to align with the BJP, the Shinde faction, or abstain from voting, adding that no formal proposal for an alliance had been received.