Congress and VBA Form Alliance for Upcoming BMC Elections

The Congress on Sunday announced an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections scheduled for January 15, 2026.

As per the seat-sharing arrangement, the VBA will contest 62 seats, while the Congress will contest 165 seats. The VBA had initially sought 70 seats, but a consensus was reached after back-to-back discussions between leaders of both parties.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal said, “The Congress and VBA are natural allies, as we are both fighting to strengthen constitutional values. Recently, we jointly contested a few municipal council polls, and we have now become alliance partners.”

This alliance comes after a gap of over 25 years. The last time the two parties tied up was during the Lok Sabha elections in February 1998, when the VBA was in its earlier form, the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM). The alliance for the BMC polls is expected to help consolidate Dalit, Bahujan, and Muslim votes for both parties.

Confirming the alliance, VBA state vice-president Dhairyawardhan Pundkar said the decision was taken to stop the BJP, which he described as following a “communal and anti-national ideology.”

Another VBA vice-president, Siddharth Mokle, clarified that the alliance with the Congress is limited to the BMC elections, and that local units have been given the autonomy to decide on alliances. His statement came shortly after Sapkal said that talks between the Congress and VBA for the remaining 28 municipal corporations in Maharashtra were on a “positive” track.

The last date for filing nominations is December 30.