Union Minister and Republican Party of India (Athawale) [RPI(A)] chief Ramdas Athawale on Friday confirmed that his party will contest 20 seats in the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections scheduled for January 15, while reiterating its support for the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The announcement comes amid tensions over seat allocation, with Athawale earlier accusing the Mahayuti of “betrayal” by excluding RPI(A) from the initial seat-sharing plan.
Speaking to ANI, Athawale said, “Mumbai’s mayor should be from Mahayuti... We are contesting on 20 seats, on the remaining places our party will support BJP and Shiv Sena. We are contesting elections with the Mahayuti, but on some seats we are contesting separately.” He added, “We will stay with the Mahayuti in this election, and to make a mayor of the Mahayuti, the Republican Party will stay with the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP. This decision has been taken by my party.”
Athawale also revealed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured him that the alliance had struggled to allocate seats to RPI(A) for the BMC polls but promised a seat in the Maharashtra Legislative Council in recognition of the party’s support.
The BMC elections, which cover all 227 seats, will be held alongside other municipal corporation polls in the state on January 15, with results expected on January 16. The ruling Mahayuti—comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP—is aiming for a clean sweep, building on its strong performance in recent municipal council and nagar panchayat elections.
As per the seat-sharing agreement, the BJP will contest 137 seats, while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena will field candidates on 90 seats. Several BJP candidates have already secured victories unopposed in some areas.
Meanwhile, the opposition remains fragmented. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena-UBT has allied with Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), drawing criticism from Congress. Talks between Congress and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) have stalled due to disagreements over seat allocation, leaving the anti-Mahayuti camp without a fully unified strategy ahead of the crucial polls.
