Maharashtra Congress says has devised ‘strategy’ to beat BJP in BMC polls, hints at co-operation with Shiv Sena

“We are confident that the BJP would lose the BMC elections… The BJP will not get more than 30 corporators in the BMC elections,” Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe told The Indian Express in Pimpri after a press conference Wednesday.

Asked specifically as to whether Congress was determined on ensuring the Sena’s loss in the BMC polls by contesting on its own, Londhe said, “That’s not true. The Congress has its own pockets in Mumbai but we want the BJP’s defeat. We have devised a strategy to ensure this but would not like to reveal what the plan is.”

The remarks assume significance as the Congress has been repeatedly claiming that it would contest the elections on its own and not in alliance with either Shiv Sena or the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

A Congress leader said that the party will support the Sena candidate in places where its candidate is weak and seek the Sena’s support in places where it has an upperhand. In the 2017 elections, the BJP came close to toppling the Sena from the helm at the BMC by winning 82 seats against its 84. Though the Congress is the third player, it is way behind the BJP and the Sena in terms of the number of corporators.

When asked whether the Congress will tie up with the Sena in the BMC polls, Londhe said: “The party’s view is that we should contest local self-government bodies’ polls separately and not in an alliance. It gives our grassroots leaders an opportunity to contest elections and strengthen their base. Therefore, there is little chance of an alliance. But our party leaders in Mumbai will decide what is best suited for the party and our alliance partner in the state, the Shiv Sena.”

Meanwhile, Londhe also said Congress will go all alone in the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections. “As per our earlier policy, we will fight the elections on our own… We have enough candidates to contest the elections. The party has been on an expanding spree in these two cities which it ruled for years,” he said.

When asked why the Congress was in the background when the Shiv Sena was taking on the BJP head on in Maharashtra, Londhe said: “It is not true that the Congress was in the background. All the three MVA alliance (ruling coalition in Maharashtra) partners are united and together and we are taking on the BJP and its tactics to put pressure on the government through the central agencies. The Congress has backed the leaders of Shiv Sena and the NCP who have been targetted by the BJP through agencies like the Enforcement Directorate.”

Discrediting the BJP rule in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Londhe said at the press conference:”In the last five years, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has only seen corruption and loot of public money. BJP corporators and MLAs have looted public money in the name of carrying out development. The BJP’s corruption is best highlighted by the fact that its own standing committee chairman was arrested for taking bribes….There is corruption even in the smart city works. The BJP says Rs 1,400-crore development plans have been implemented by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Smart City Ltd. There is not even an iota of change in the industrial city. Forget about becoming a smart city, the situation has only worsened in the industrial city,” he said.

Londhe said a Congress delegation will meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and seek an investigation into the corruption during the BJP rule at the PCMC.

Londhe also slammed the promise of drinking water made to Pimpri-Chinchwad residents by the BJP. “The Pavana dam was full. The PCMC was supposed to get over 300 MLD (million litres per day) of additional water from two dams. On both counts, it failed to get additional water during its tenure. As a result, residents in Pimpri-Chinchwad continued to get water only on alternate days. Hundreds of residents struggled to get their daily quota of water,” he said.

Pimpri-Chinchwad Congress president Kailas Kadam, Youth Congress chief Narendra Bansode and All India Congress Committee secretary Prithviraj Sathe were also present.