VBA fails to find candidates for 16 of 21 seats in Mumbai as part of Congress alliance

According to sources, the VBA had found difficulty in finding candidates on 21 out of 62 seats it was given to contest in Mumbai.

The lack of coordination and failure to gauge the political arena has resulted in Congress and Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi failing to give candidates on 16 seats alloted to VBA in its seat sharing formula for BMC polls.

This might result in as many as 32 seats out of 227 to witness direct fight between Mahayuti (BJP or Shinde led Shiv Sena) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena(UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) alliance, as no powerful third front candidate will be contesting.

Realising the problem, the VBA had conveyed to the Congress on Tuesday morning itself that it will be fielding candidates on five of those seats only and the Congress was free to give tickets to its candidates on the remaining 16.

The Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Wednesday rejected reports of possible rift within the alliance in Mumbai after 16 seats from the VBA’s quota have allegedly gone uncontested from either side.

“Ever since the announcement of our alliance, the ruling side is losing its ground. There is absolutely no dispute between us. On the contrary, the workers and leaders are in communication with each other without any glitch,” said Mumbai Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.

The VBA, too, denied any such rift within the parties over seat allocation. Its spokesperson Siddharth Mokle said that such reports are sponsored by ruling parties. “As far as the issue of 16 seats are concerned, the Congress was informed well in time that the VBA will not be fighting there. Appropriate action was taken by the Congress and once the nomination scrutiny is over, reality will be out for everyone to see,” he said.

The Congress has officially announced 143 candidates in Mumbai as of now. With VBA fighting on 46, six other seats were given to allies, such as the Left and Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP).

The Congress and its allies are officially contesting 195 seats which means, remaining 32 seats will not witness vote division. “It might be a benefit to the Thackerays as there will be no division of votes in anti-BJP voting,” said a senior Sena(UBT) leader.

However, following the scrutiny of nominations the picture will be clearer, he said.