BMC Election 2026: Congress ally VBA fails to get candidates on 20 seats ahead of nominations

Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant, state party chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, and VBA state vice-president Dhairyavardhan Pundkar. PIC/X

The alliance between Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) for BMC Election 2026 suffered a setback, with the Prakash Ambedkar-led party reportedly lacking candidates for 20 of the 62 seats allocated to it, news agency PTI reported.

With the deadline for filing nominations for the January 15 elections ending on Tuesday, the VBA 'disclosure' may require Congress to rework the poll strategy.

The 143-62 seat-sharing formula was announced on Sunday between the Congress and VBA for the 227-member BMC Election in 2026. Earlier, the alliance had come to the collective decision of allotting some seats to the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and RPI (Gavai) faction.

A Congress leader, while highlighting the issue days before the civic polls, asserted, "The VBA informed the Congress that it didn't have candidates in 20 seats and has 'returned' them, reacting to the development," as cited by news agency PTI.

Sanjay Nirupam says he 'sympathises' with voters of Congress

Reacting on the developments, Shiv Sena Spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam said that he sympathises with the voters of Congress in 20 wards.

The VBA has some pockets of influence among Dalit voters in Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra. The party, led by Dr BR Ambedkar's grandson Prakash, mainly derives its strength from the Navboudh (neo-Buddhist) electorate.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Shiv Sena (UBT) began distributing AB forms to party candidates for BMC Election 2026, even without releasing the official list.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting BMC Election 2026 in alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is contesting over 150 seats but is yet to officially announce the exact number.

BMC Election 2026: 401 nominations received so far ahead of Dec 30 deadline

Meanwhile, a total of 357 nomination papers were filed on Monday, a day before the submission process closes for BMC Election 2026, taking the cumulative tally so far to 401.

Of the 357 nominations filed at 23 returning officers' offices across the city, the highest, 29, were filed at K-West and P-North wards.

In the first four working days, just 44 nominations were filed across the city, according to a release.

A total of 1,225 nomination forms were distributed on the fifth day of the nomination process across 23 returning officer (RO) offices in the city since December 23, when the poll schedule was declared.

Over five days, a total of 11,568 nomination forms have been distributed, the BMC added.

The maximum forms on a single day were distributed on December 23 (4,165), followed by December 24 (2,844), December 26 (2,040), December 27 (1,294), and December 29 (1,225).

Elections to 227 seats will be held on January 15, and votes will be counted the following day.

(With PTI inputs)