The Curious Case Of Mumbai's Missing Allies As Civic Polls Approach

Seat-sharing talks have picked up pace in both rival camps in Mumbai but what stands out this time is not who is on the table, but who is not.

24 Dec 2025, 05:45 · www.ndtv.com

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Seat-sharing talks in Mumbai exclude NCP from Mahayuti and Congress from opposition meetings
BJP opposes alliance with NCP due to Nawab Malik's controversial leadership in Mumbai
Congress distances itself from MNS, focusing on issue-based politics over identity in Mumbai

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As the curtain falls on Maharashtra's municipal council results, political attention has now shifted to the state's biggest prize: Mumbai. A city whose annual budget accounts higher than that of several Indian states is never just another civic contest. With survival at stake for many, no party can afford complacency, regardless of its footprint in the region.

Seat-sharing talks have picked up pace in both rival camps in the city. What stands out this time is not who is on the table, but who is not. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has been kept away from the Mahayuti's Mumbai talks, while the Congress is conspicuously missing from the opposition's seat-sharing meetings. Official reasoning cites individual leaders and policy differences, but this is more about calculated strategies than emotional fallouts.

At Sant Gadge Maharaj Lane in Dadar East, cars with the lotus and the bow-and-arrow symbols have become a familiar sight for the shopkeepers outside the Mumbai BJP office. The venue has hosted plenty of political meetings ahead of the last few polls, but this time, 'the Clock' is missing. NCP's absence was striking for many, particularly because relations between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar have improved considerably over the past year.

"The BJP will not associate with the NCP if Nawab Malik continues to lead the party in Mumbai," said Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam.

Read: Thackerays To Make Reunion Official, Congress Says Won't Continue Alliance

Northwards, at Bandra's Kalanagar, the political mood is different but equally telling. Matoshree remains a fulcrum for the city's political activity, and representatives of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have been frequent visitors for seat-sharing discussions with the host Sena. But the Congress, the largest national opposition party, has maintained distance.

"There is no question of associating with the MNS. Our politics is about issues, not identity," Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad had said earlier, drawing a clear red line.

While the alliances stay intact at the state level, the realities of Mumbai are slightly different. On the ground, alliances appear fragmented, but they might just be deliberately loosened for the final act.

What's in a name? A BMC ticket, maybe

This year's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election is unlike any in recent times. While the everyday life of a Mumbaikar may not have changed since the last polls in 2017, the city's politics surely has.

Identity has emerged as the central theme. The Thackerays have revived one of the founding principles of their politics, Marathi asmita, while the BJP has doubled down on theirs - Hindutva. Though both forces have traditionally occupied overlapping ideological spaces, the current contest has sharpened contrasts.

The BJP's repeated assertion that Mumbai could get a "Khan mayor" under a UBT-led city government serves as an example. In another time, such a claim may have been dismissed outright by a clear ideological challenger, but UBT isn't one. Uddhav Thackeray wants to reach out to the unknown terrains of minority votes, while keeping the Marathi Hindutva votes intact.

In the binary of Marathi-first versus Hindu-first, staying outside either narrative can itself be a strategy. Remaining independent does not merely signal dissent; it allows a party to position itself as a third alternative. Enter NCP and INC.

Read: For Mumbai Civic Polls, BJP Ups Eknath Shinde's Seat Offer To 90, He Wants 20 More

How Mahayuti's fragility helps it grow

At the heart of the BJP-NCP friction lies Nawab Malik. Allegations surrounding a land deal in Kurla, involving Malik and Haseena Parkar, the sister of Dawood Ibrahim, have defined the BJP's opposition to him.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Malik in 2022 under the PMLA, and while he is currently out on bail on health grounds, the BJP has consistently cited these allegations to keep him at arm's length. NCP, though, holds that the case is sub-judice.

Even after Ajit Pawar's split from his uncle and alignment with the BJP, Malik remains an awkward ally. Pawar has not only defended him but also entrusted him with organisational responsibility in Mumbai, further deepening BJP's discomfort.

Yet the decision to keep the NCP out of pre-poll seat sharing is not merely ideological. It is also an electoral arithmetic.

In the 2017 BMC elections, seven of the NCP's nine corporators came from Mumbai's eastern suburbs, areas with significant Muslim and Dalit populations where Malik retains influence. A formal alliance with the BJP, which is running an overt Hindu-first campaign, risks alienating this voter base.

From the BJP's perspective, this separation is advantageous. If the NCP performs well, its numbers can be added to the Mahayuti post-poll, with no questions asked. If it doesn't, it still helps split minority votes, primarily denting the Congress and UBT, but not the BJP or the Shinde-led Shiv Sena to the least.

But this scenario is not new for Ajit Pawar's NCP. Ever since its induction into Mahayuti, it has been a witness to this kind of politics, in many ways, a victim of it.

Read: Thackerays, For Once, Seem To Have A Plan Ahead Of Mumbai Local Body Polls

Congress and the Opposition's Mirror Strategy

A similar logic is shaping the Congress's approach. Like the NCP, it is an integral part of a larger MVA alliance, yet keen to fight independently in Mumbai.

The recent agitation against the state government's Hindi-in-schools resolution made this clear. While parties across the spectrum, including the MNS, UBT, NCP (SP), and the communists, joined protests, the Congress stayed away. The reasons were twofold: Congress has never historically mobilised around linguistic identity, and it cannot afford to be seen alongside the MNS, particularly given its substantial North Indian and Gujarati voter base in Mumbai.

Raj Thackeray's past rhetoric, including hardline positions on Muslims and North Indians, remains a major discomfort for the Congress, both electorally in Mumbai and politically at the national level.

Unlike UBT, which can afford limited attrition among non-Marathi voters, the Congress sees Mumbai as a crucial arena to assert relevance. In 2017, it won just 31 BMC seats, one of its weakest showings. Fighting alone allows it to present itself as an issues-based alternative, highlight pollution, housing, and infrastructure over identity politics.

It also keeps post-poll options open. "There should be no enmity with the Congress during the election. Post-election, if required, we will take their support," said MP Sanjay Raut.

But this strategy comes with some risks. Unlike the NCP, the Congress is large enough to seriously split the opposition vote. If results tilt towards the Mahayuti, Congress may find itself branded as a vote-cutter, a charge it has faced before in other states.

Part-time friends, full-time foes

Mumbai's municipal election mirrors the larger truth about Maharashtra politics: alliances are fluid, principles negotiable, and every party is both a rival and a plan B.

In most elections, parties prepare contingencies. In Mumbai, every party is a contingency.

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