Congress-VBA seat sharing pact for BMC elections

The Opposition Congress on Sunday signed a seat-sharing pact with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) for the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls — under which the VBS would contest 62 seats out of the total 227 seats in Mumbai.

Within days after it entered the regional outfit Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) led by former minister Mahadev Jankar, the Congress forged an electoral tie-up with the VBS by setting aside 62 seats to the latter. Announcing its alliance with the VBS on the party’s 140th foundation day, Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal said, “The Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi are natural allies. Both parties share the same ideological foundation. Both parties are committed to constitutional values and to building an India envisioned by the Constitution. Both parties stand on equality and social justice are identical. Both the parties don’t compromise on Constitutional principles.”

Sakpal said that both the parties had contested the 1998 and 1999 elections as an alliance and had come together after a gap of 25 years. Speaking on the occasion, VBA State vice president Dr Dhairyavardhan Pundkar said that Congress and his party had come together to stop the ruling BJP’s divisive and destructive politics. “Sakpal took the first step towards the alliance and has maintained a positive approach from the very beginning. That’s why we have entered into a pact with the Congress. 

“While we have entered an alliance with the BMC, leaders from both the parties will take decisions about seat-sharing for the remaining 28 municipal corporations at the local level. The voting for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations will take place on January 15, 2026, while the results will be declared on the following day.

Prakash Ambedkar — who is the grandson of late BR Ambedkar – was initially associated with the Republican Party of India (RPI)-- has been a prominent face with the Ambedkarite movement over the years. He later on founded RPI’s splinter group Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BRP) in 1994.

A two-time Lok Sabha member from Akola in the Vidarbha region, Ambedkar founded VBA in March 2018. The party contested2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, but did not win even one seat. The VBA — which claims to represent Dhangar, Kunbi, Bhil, Buddhist, Kolim Vader, Lohar, Varli, Bhanjara, Muslim, Mali, Bhanjaa, Kaikach, Bhoi, Matang, Shimpi and Lingayat communities, has a nuisance value, because it cuts into the politically deprived communities. Sunday’s is the second alliance that the Congress – which was part of the Opposition front Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls in alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP.

However, the Congress chose to step out of the MVA and decided to contest the3 BMC polls on its own strength. It may be recalled that on December 24, the Congress had announced that it would contest the forthcoming municipal corporation and Zilla Parishad polls in alliance with RSP led by former minister Mahadev Jankar.

The Congress’s decision to ally with the RSP is more to do with the Zilla Parishad elections. The RSP has pockets of influence in western Maharashtra and Maratha regions.