Mumbai, February 19 – Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal said on Thursday that the alliance comprising the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), and corporators who have left the BJP will elect the mayor of the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation.
Sapkal said that Narayan Chaudhary, who recently left the BJP and joined the secular alliance, was previously associated with the Congress party. He said that Chaudhary, along with several colleagues, has left the BJP, formed an independent group, and extended support to the Congress-led alliance in Bhiwandi.
Addressing a press conference, Sapkal, who was accompanied by NCP (SP) MP Suresh Mhatre, said that discussions with like-minded parties had been ongoing for the past 24 days, and that the political deadlock over the formation of the municipal leadership has now been resolved.
"Observers will be sent immediately to make a decision regarding the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and the Standing Committee in Bhiwandi. These observers will hold discussions with all concerned stakeholders before a final decision is taken. The Congress's firm stand remains that the Bharatiya Janata Party should not be in power. With 30 Congress corporators, 12 from the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and corporators who have left the BJP, the alliance will form the governing body in Bhiwandi," Sapkal said.
He added that the Congress had contested the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation elections independently and emerged as the single-largest party by winning 30 seats. The party had secured the support of 12 corporators from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) but required additional numbers to achieve a majority in the civic body.
"The Congress has maintained that it would not align with the BJP or the Shinde Sena, and it has not compromised on this position. Now, some BJP corporators have renounced their party and ideology to support the secular alliance," Sapkal said, adding that both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor would be from the alliance.
NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MP Suresh Mhatre said that efforts to form a secular alliance government in Bhiwandi between the Congress and the NCP had been underway for the past several weeks. He said that discussions were also held with the Samajwadi Party, but it chose to align with the Shinde Sena.
"With corporators leaving the BJP and extending support to the alliance, the path to forming the municipal government has now been cleared," Mhatre said.
Earlier, the BJP in Bhiwandi witnessed internal dissent and a split among its corporators following the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation elections, particularly over the party’s mayoral nomination.
Initially, Narayan Ratan Chaudhary had been projected as the BJP’s mayoral candidate. However, the party later replaced him with Sneha Patil, triggering discontent among sections of the local leadership.
Following the change, Chaudhary and a group of BJP corporators distanced themselves from the party and moved towards supporting the Congress-NCP(SP)-backed alliance. Chaudhary said that he was considering extending support to the alliance to facilitate the election of a mayor backed by the secular front, which would effectively prevent the BJP from retaining control of the municipal corporation.