Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 28 : The Congress and the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Sunday decided to join hands for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
In Mumbai, the VBA will contest 62 seats.
Regarding alliances in the other 28 municipal corporations across the state, positive decisions will be taken at the local level, for which both parties have granted authority to their local leadership.
The decision to form an alliance was taken on the Congress party's Foundation Day, which holds special significance. The alliance was formally announced at the Congress headquarters, Tilak Bhavan, by Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal and VBA's State Vice President Dhairyavardhan Pundkar.
At the press conference held at Tilak Bhavan, those present included Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal; All India Congress Committee Secretary and Mumbai Congress Chief Spokesperson Sachin Sawant; State Vice President and Chief Spokesperson Siddharth Mokale; Vanchit's Mumbai President Chetan Ahire; Mumbai Women's Alliance President Snehal Sohani; and Mumbai Youth Alliance President Sagar Gawai.
Speaking on the occasion, Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal said that the alliance between the Congress and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is a natural one. Both parties share the same ideological position and are committed to constitutional values and to building an India envisioned by the Constitution.
They stand for equality, fraternity, and social justice, and neither party compromises on constitutional principles. The two parties had allied in the 1998 and 1999 elections, and now, after 25 years, they have come together again. The process took some time, but from today a new chapter has begun. "This is not a game of numbers, but a meeting of ideologies," Sapkal said.
Vanchit's State Vice President Dhairyavardhan Pundkar said that the two parties have come together to stop the divisive BJP.
He added that Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal took the first step towards the alliance and maintained a positive approach from the beginning. Pundkar reiterated that the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi will contest 62 seats in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
Vanchit's State Vice President Siddharth Mokale said that seat-sharing discussions in alliances are never entirely satisfactory, but a point must be reached. He noted that positive discussions took place from both sides.
While the alliance for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation has been announced today, decisions for other municipal corporations will be taken positively by the local leadership of both parties, Mokale said.