A BJP-Congress alliance? The impossible has happened in this Maharashtra city

An unexpected political realignment has triggered turmoil in Maharashtra’s Ambernath Municipal Council, where the BJP has joined hands with the Congress to secure power, sidelining the Shiv Sena headed by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Despite projecting itself nationally as a champion of a Congress-free India, the BJP chose to align with its traditional rival. The alliance has helped BJP's Tejashree Karanjule win the mayoral post, with the combine enjoying the support of 32 councillors — 16 from the BJP, 12 from the Congress and four from the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) — giving it a clear majority in the civic body.

The development has sparked sharp resentment within the Shiv Sena, a party with which the BJP shares power in Maharashtra, but now pushed out of the power equation in Ambernath.

Balaji Kinikar, an MLA from the Shinde camp, termed the tie-up an “unholy alliance” and accused the BJP of betrayal.

“The party that spoke of a Congress-free India is now ruling with the Congress. This is nothing but stabbing the Shiv Sena in the back,” he alleged.

The BJP, however, has dismissed the criticism, with BJP vice-president Gulabrao Karanjule Patil saying that an alliance with the Shiv Sena would have been truly unholy.

Accusing the Shinde-led party of corruption over the past 25 years, Patil claimed that the BJP had made several attempts to explore a broader alliance with the Shiv Sena in Ambernath, but received no positive response from its leadership.

While the BJP–Congress tie-up has settled the immediate power struggle in the Ambernath Municipal Council, it has also sparked tensions within Maharashtra's broader political landscape. There is growing speculation and continued debate over whether the alliance represents a political necessity or a controversial compromise.

Attempts to reach Ambernath's Congress city president Pradeep Patil for comment were unsuccessful.

- Ends

(with inputs from Mithilesh Gupta)

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