Mumbai, Feb 19 (NationPress) The President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Harshwardhan Sapkal, announced on Thursday that the coalition including the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), and former BJP corporators is poised to elect the mayor of the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation.

Sapkal highlighted that Narayan Chaudhary, who recently departed from the BJP to join the secular coalition, has a history with the Congress party. He noted that Chaudhary, alongside several former BJP members, has established an independent faction that now supports the Congress-led alliance in Bhiwandi.

During a press conference, Sapkal, accompanied by NCP (SP) MP Suresh Mhatre, mentioned that dialogues with like-minded parties have been ongoing for the past 24 days, successfully resolving the political impasse regarding municipal leadership.

“We will send observers promptly to deliberate on the appointments of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and the Standing Committee in Bhiwandi. These observers will engage with all relevant stakeholders before finalizing any decisions. Our firm stance is to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power. The alliance, comprising 30 Congress corporators and 12 from the NCP, alongside the former BJP members, will establish the governing body in Bhiwandi,” Sapkal stated.

He further explained that the Congress contested the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation elections independently, emerging as the single largest party by securing 30 seats. While the party gained support from 12 NCP corporators, they required additional backing to achieve a majority within the civic body.

“The Congress has reiterated its refusal to collaborate with the BJP or the Shinde Sena, and this position remains uncompromised. Now, several former BJP corporators have renounced their party allegiance to support the secular alliance,” Sapkal noted, revealing that both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor would be chosen from this coalition.

NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MP Suresh Mhatre remarked that efforts to form a secular alliance government in Bhiwandi between the Congress and the NCP have been in progress for weeks. He mentioned that discussions were also held with the Samajwadi Party, which opted to ally with the Shinde Sena.

“As corporators leave the BJP to pledge their support to our alliance, the pathway to forming the municipal government has been cleared,” Mhatre affirmed.

Previously, the BJP in Bhiwandi faced internal strife and divisions among its corporators after the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation elections, particularly concerning the party's mayoral nomination.

Initially, Narayan Ratan Chaudhary was promoted as the BJP’s candidate for mayor but was later replaced by Sneha Patil, leading to dissatisfaction among segments of the local leadership.

Following this change, Chaudhary and a faction of BJP corporators distanced themselves from the party and began supporting the Congress-NCP(SP)-backed alliance. Chaudhary expressed his intention to support the alliance to facilitate the election of a mayor favored by the secular front, effectively preventing the BJP from maintaining control of the municipal corporation.