Maharashtra unit of Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal on Thursday (December 25) said his party is in discussions to form an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) for the upcoming municipal elections. Sapkal said after the Congress State Election Committee meeting at Tilak Bhawan in Dadar that both the parties have authorized their local leadership to take a decision on the alliance.

There is good communication between the leaders – Sapkal

“There is a strong desire among leaders of both parties for a Congress-led alliance,” Sapkal said. There is good communication between the leaders and serious efforts are being made to make an alliance possible for the municipal elections.

At the meeting held at Tilak Bhawan, the selection of candidates for 28 municipal corporations except Mumbai, which will be based on the recommendations of the District Congress Committees, and election management strategies keeping in mind social representation were also discussed.

These leaders were present in the meeting

Opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar, former chief ministers Prithviraj Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde, former ministers and party officials were present in the meeting. Sapkal said that the schedule for the municipal elections was announced on December 15, after which the party immediately started planning for the elections.

Talks also going on with Uddhav Thackeray’s party – Sapkal

Sapkal said talks are also going on with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which is a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi and ‘India’ alliance. Sapkal said that he is not directly involved in the coalition talks for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). He said that Congress Secretary U B Venkatesh has been entrusted with the responsibility of holding discussions with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Elections for 29 municipal corporations including Mumbai will be held on January 15 and counting of votes will take place the next day.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition challenging the 2024 Maharashtra assembly election results. Earlier, on 25 June, the Bombay High Court rejected it as a petition to waste time. Now the Supreme Court has refused to interfere in the order of the High Court.

What was said in the petition?
Vikhroli Mumbai assembly seat voter Chetan Chandrakant Ahire said in a petition filed in the High Court that even after 6 pm in the assembly elections in the state, about 76 lakh people cast their votes. The Election Commission is not giving their details. Ahire had demanded polling for 288 seats on 20 November 2024 and the results on 24 November 2024 as illegal.

Prakash Ambedkar, a lawyer and deprived Bahujan Aghadi leader, debated on behalf of the petitioner in the High Court. Senior advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni on behalf of the Election Commission and advocate Uday Varunjikar on behalf of the central government presented the side. He said that the petition is not legally valid. In an election, people who are in line before 6 o’clock, are always given a chance to vote. There is no system to keep a record of such people and make it available to anyone.

Supreme Court also refused after High Court
The petitioner also made demands like reviewing EVM-VVPAT of all seats, looking CCTV footage. Along with this, the order of voting with ballot paper was also sought in future. On 25 June, the bench of Justice GS Kulkarni and Arif Doctor of Bombay High Court found the petition disqualified after a long hearing. Now the bench of Supreme Court Justice MM Sundresh and N. Kotishwar Singh has also refused to hear it.