Overview
- Local BJP leaders in Ambernath formed the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi with Congress and Ajit Pawar’s NCP to control the 60-member council, and BJP’s Tejashree Karanjule Patil was elected president as Shiv Sena, the single-largest party with 27 seats, was kept out.
- In Akot, the BJP partnered with AIMIM and other parties under the Akot Vikas Manch, securing a 25-member bloc in the 35-seat council and electing BJP’s Maya Dhule as mayor ahead of deputy mayor polls on January 13.
- Devendra Fadnavis said alliances with Congress or AIMIM are “unacceptable,” announced instructions to reverse them, and warned of disciplinary action against local leaders who acted without approval.
- Shiv Sena leaders condemned the Ambernath arrangement as a betrayal of coalition norms, while Congress’s state leadership said no formal tie-up with the BJP had been approved.
- Ajit Pawar said his recent remarks about the BJP were misrepresented and defended contesting Pune’s civic polls separately, underscoring the fluid local alignments as statewide municipal corporation polling nears on January 15 with counting on January 16.