The ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra is publicly expressing confidence about contesting the upcoming Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections together. However, a closer look at the political ground realities reveals that maintaining this unity will be a significant challenge for the coalition partners.
BJP's Dominance and Seat-Sharing Hurdles
In Nagpur, a city where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held near-complete control for almost ten years, local leaders show little willingness to give up electoral space to their allies. These allies are the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) group led by Ajit Pawar. Senior BJP officials in Nagpur point to the city's electoral history, arguing it leaves minimal room for compromise.
The scale of the BJP's past victory is a key factor. In the 2017 civic elections, the party secured a sweeping victory, winning 108 out of 151 seats and gaining unchallenged control of the municipal corporation. With new polls on the horizon, the party has internally set an ambitious target of capturing at least 120 seats. Party strategists believe that to achieve this goal, the BJP would need to contest a minimum of 140 wards, which drastically reduces the number of seats available for distribution among alliance partners.
Weak Past Performance of Allies Complicates Talks
The historical performance of the current alliance partners further comicates negotiation dynamics. In the 2017 NMC polls, the then-undivided Shiv Sena managed to win only two seats. The undivided NCP fared even worse, securing just one seat. This performance was overshadowed even by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, which won 10 seats, primarily in North Nagpur. This record highlights the fragmented nature of the opposition at the time, rather than demonstrating significant strength from the current Mahayuti allies.
BJP's city president, Dayashankar Tiwari, stated that the local unit has received instructions from the party's leadership in Mumbai to initiate talks only with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. "We don't have instructions to talk with NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). We are told to talk to the Sena panel led by Minister Ashish Jaiswal," Tiwari clarified. He added that formal discussions would commence only after the BJP concludes its internal candidate interview process on December 20.
Outlining the BJP's initial stance, Tiwari said, "They (Shiv Sena) won two seats in the 2017 polls and we will offer them the same seats along with a few others. If they still demand more seats, we will refer the issue to our higher authorities, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis."
Allies Stake Their Claims as Talks Move to Mumbai
Meanwhile, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction is actively pressing its case for a fair share of seats. The party's district president, Shrikant Shivankar, announced that he and city chief Anil Ahirkar would travel to Mumbai to meet Ajit Pawar and working president Praful Patel. "We have demanded 22 seats in NMC. These are seats which were lost by BJP to Congress, BSP and others. Ultimately, the seniors would take a final call," Shivankar stated.
The Shiv Sena faction has signalled a mix of optimism and caution. The party's publicity chief, Mangesh Kashikar, confirmed they have instructions to fight the elections together but acknowledged that the final outcome depends on high-level talks in Mumbai. "We are expecting to get at least 20 seats to contest. Last time we had Kishor Kumeriya and Mangala Gaware, who won. This time, we will better this tally," Kashikar said, recalling that the Sena had won 12 seats in the 2012 civic polls.
As the crucial seat-sharing negotiations shift to the state capital, Nagpur's civic contest is emerging as a vital test case. It will determine whether the Mahayuti alliance's cooperative politics can withstand the powerful forces of local dominance and the ambitious electoral targets of its strongest partner.
