A significant political realignment has taken shape in Ulhasnagar ahead of the crucial Municipal Corporation elections. The Team Omie Kalani (TOK) party has declared that its 32 candidates will contest the polls using the Shiv Sena's iconic 'bow and arrow' election symbol. This development underscores a clear split in the city's political landscape, with the erstwhile allies Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now preparing to fight the civic battle separately.
Seat-Sharing Pact and Alliance Dynamics
At the local level, the Shiv Sena has forged an alliance with two key players: the Team Omie Kalani, led by Omie Kalani—son of former MLA Pappu Kalani—and the Sai Party. The tripartite seat-sharing agreement is precise: the Shiv Sena will contest 35 seats, TOK will fight for 32 seats, and the Sai Party has been allocated 11 seats. This covers all 78 seats in the Ulhasnagar civic body.
Explaining the strategic decision to use a common symbol, TOK's election in-charge Jamnu Puraswani stated that the primary objective was to prevent confusion among the electorate. "With three parties in the alliance, different election symbols could create confusion. Therefore, to present a united front, all candidates from the alliance will contest on the Shiv Sena's 'bow and arrow' symbol," Puraswani clarified during a press conference.
Post-Poll Identity: Alliance, Not Merger
Despite the shared symbol, TOK chief Omie Kalani was quick to assert the independence of his party after the elections. He emphasized that contesting on the Shiv Sena symbol is a tactical electoral understanding and does not signify an impending merger. "We may fight the elections on the bow and arrow symbol, but after winning, the TOK group will remain separate," Kalani stated. He added that the party's decision was driven by the singular objective of ensuring the comprehensive development of Ulhasnagar city.
BJP Goes Solo in All 78 Seats
The political calculus in Ulhasnagar has been fundamentally altered by the breakdown of the long-standing Shiv Sena-BJP alliance at the city level. In response to the new coalition, the BJP has initiated the process of distributing tickets to its candidates for all 78 seats in the municipal corporation. This sets the stage for a direct and intense multi-cornered contest, with the Sena-TOK-Sai alliance on one side and the BJP campaigning independently on the other.
The upcoming Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation elections are now poised to be a key test of local loyalties and the influence of legacy political families against the backdrop of major state-level political fractures.
