A Congress-BJP Coalition? The Unthinkable Becomes Reality in Maharashtra Politics

In a development that has stunned political observers, the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has found itself sidelined in the Ambernath Municipal Council following an unexpected political realignment. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), traditionally positioned as the congress’s principal national rival, has joined hands with the Congress to seize control of the civic body.

The alliance marks a significant departure from the BJP’s long-standing political narrative of opposing the Congress, especially at the national level where it continues to project itself as a party committed to a “Congress-mukt Bharat.” Despite this stance, the BJP chose to collaborate with its erstwhile adversary at the municipal level to secure power in Ambernath.

With the backing of 32 councillors—16 from the BJP, 12 from the Congress, and four from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Ajit Pawar—the coalition successfully ensured the election of BJP leader Tejashree Karanjule as the mayor of Ambernath. The numbers effectively pushed the Shiv Sena out of the local power structure.

The move has caused deep resentment within the Shiv Sena, particularly because the party continues to share power with the BJP in the Maharashtra state government. However, despite being an ally at the state level, the Shiv Sena was excluded from the Ambernath power equation, intensifying internal alliance tensions.

Reacting strongly to the development, Shinde camp MLA Balaji Kinikar termed the BJP–Congress partnership an “unholy alliance” and accused the BJP of political betrayal. He alleged that the move amounted to a backstab against the Shiv Sena, which had expected continued cooperation at the local level.

“The very party that has been advocating for an India free of the Congress is now sharing power with the Congress,” Kinikar said. “This alliance is nothing but a betrayal of trust and a clear act of stabbing the Shiv Sena in the back.”

Countering these allegations, BJP vice-president Gulabrao Karanjule Patil rejected the charge that the BJP’s decision was unethical. He argued that an alliance with the Shiv Sena would have been far more problematic, given what he described as decades of corruption under the Sena’s influence in the region.

Patil further accused the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction of indulging in corrupt practices over the past 25 years. He claimed that the BJP had made several attempts to form a broader and more inclusive coalition with the Shiv Sena in Ambernath, but the party’s local leadership failed to respond positively to those overtures.

While the immediate power tussle in the Ambernath Municipal Council appears to have been settled through the BJP–Congress alliance, the political repercussions are far from over. The development has added another layer of complexity to Maharashtra’s already volatile political landscape and has sparked intense debate over the nature of political morality and pragmatism.

Political analysts continue to debate whether the alliance represents a strategic necessity driven by numbers or a controversial compromise that undermines ideological consistency. The episode has also fueled speculation about future realignments in local and state-level politics.

Meanwhile, Pradeep Patil, the Congress city president of Ambernath, could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.