In Chandrapur, the Congress party, which was divided into factions, faced a major embarrassment when its ally, the Shiv Sena (UBT), and the ruling BJP formed an unexpected alliance. This led to the election of a BJP mayor in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation, despite the Congress being in a position to win.
Sangeeta Khandekar of the BJP was elected mayor with a single vote, defeating Vaishali Mahadule of the Congress. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) supported the saffron party. Prashant Danav of the Shiv Sena (UBT) was elected as deputy mayor.
This development raised serious questions about the unity of the opposition and the viability of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), as the Shiv Sena (UBT) is a key ally of the Congress within both the MVA and the INDIA bloc.
Chandrapur is one of the few municipal corporations where the Congress had emerged as the largest party and was poised to secure the mayor’s post. However, deep internal divisions between factions led by Vijay Wadettiwar and Pratibha Dhanorkar created an opportunity for the BJP.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he would discuss the matter after gathering more information.
Harshwardhan Sapkal, the Maharashtra Congress chief, accused the Shiv Sena (UBT), AIMIM, and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) of horse-trading and causing the setback.
"In the Chandrapur mayoral election, the BJP received 32 votes and the Congress received 31. Given that the Shiv Sena (UBT) was expected to support the Congress, which has 6 corporators, this outcome is surprising. This will have consequences in the state,” Sapkal told reporters.
In the elections held last month for the 66-member civic body, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 27 seats, followed closely by the BJP with 23.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) won six seats, the Bharatiya Shetkari Kamgar Paksh (Janvikas Sena) three, VBA two, while AIMIM, BSP and Shiv Sena secured one seat each. Two Independents were also elected.
Multiple candidates filed nominations for the mayor’s post. Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded Manasvi Girhe, while Congress candidates included Sangeeta Bhoyar, Sangeeta Amritkar, Sunanda Dhobe, and Vaishali Mahadule. The BJP nominated Sangeeta Khandekar and Sarika Sandurkar.
Until Monday, there was no clarity on alliances following the January 15 polls. Ahead of the mayoral election, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had stated that the party would prefer to sit in opposition and would never support the BJP, citing directives from Uddhav Thackeray.
However, after the outcome, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said the development appeared to have occurred without the approval of the party leadership.
Local leaders of the party offered differing explanations.
Sandeep Girhe, the Chandrapur district Sena (UBT) president, said local leaders had met Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, seeking the mayor’s post, but the Congress refused to hand the position for a five-year term. “Following this, the Sena (UBT) opened talks with the BJP "in the interest of development," he said.
Girhe added that he remained in touch with Mumbai-based Sena (UBT) leader Varun Sardesai and that the leadership had instructed local units to ensure organisational unity.
Deputy Mayor Danav confirmed that discussions between the BJP and Sena (UBT) resulted in an agreement under which the BJP would get the mayor’s post and the Sena (UBT) the deputy mayor’s post.
Sapkal, meanwhile, claimed the BJP also benefited from AIMIM’s support, while the Prakash Ambedkar-led VBA remained absent during voting.
"If the VBA, with whom we had a genuine alliance during the civic body polls, had supported the Congress, our candidate would have won. There was horse-trading," he alleged.
Dismissing claims of infighting, Sapkal said Congress corporators were united and that differences among party leaders in Chandrapur had been resolved.
"It is only because of the Shiv Sena (UBT), AIMIM and VBA that the BJP could install its mayor,” he said.
Taking a swipe at Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat said the corporators of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had sent a clear message that they no longer wished to align with the Congress and NCP.
"Elected representatives do not want to remain out of power. They believe the natural alliance is between the Shiv Sena and BJP, and they decided accordingly," Shirsat claimed.
Notably, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which contested against the Shiv Sena–BJP alliance in municipal polls, had extended post-election support to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Kalyan-Dombivli and Nashik after the civic elections.
