Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi secures 62 seats in strategic alliance with Congress for Mumbai municipal polls

The Congress and Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) today announced their alliance for the upcoming Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. In Mumbai, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi will contest 62 seats out of 227 total seats.

With regard to alliances in the remaining 28 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, positive decisions will be taken at the local level. The announcement of the alliance on the Congress party’s foundation day is of special significance. The alliance was formally announced at the Congress headquarters, Tilak Bhavan, by Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi state vice president Dr Dhairyavardhan Pundkar.

The press conference at Tilak Bhavan was attended by Sapkal, AICC Secretary and Mumbai Congress chief spokesperson Sachin Sawant, State vice president and chief spokesperson Siddharth Mokale, Vanchit Mumbai president Chetan Ahire, Mumbai women’s wing president Snehal Sohni, and Mumbai youth wing president Sagar Gawai.

Addressing the media, 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 foundation. Both are committed to constitutional values and to building an India envisioned by the Constitution. Their stance on equality, fraternity, and social justice is identical, and neither party is willing to compromise on constitutional principles. He recalled that the two parties had allied in the 1998 and 1999 elections and noted that, after 25 years, they have come together once again. While the process took some time, a new chapter begins today. “This is not a game of numbers, but a meeting of ideas,” Sapkal said.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi State Vice President Dr Dhairyavardhan Pundkar said that both parties have come together to stop the divisive and destructive politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He noted that Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal took the first step towards the alliance and maintained a positive approach from the very beginning. Pundkar reiterated that the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi will contest 62 seats in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi state vice president Siddharth Mokale said that discussions on seat-sharing in any alliance are rarely fully satisfactory, but a consensus must be reached at some point. He stated that positive discussions took place from both sides for the alliance. While the alliance for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation has been announced today, decisions regarding other municipal corporations will be taken positively by the local leadership of both parties, Mokale said.