With the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections approaching, there is talk that NCP and Shiv Sena will fight the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections together.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has a total of 236 wards. It needs 114 seats to come to power. Therefore, there is talk of Shiv Sena contesting elections with NCP to come to power in Mumbai Municipal Corporation again. If Shiv Sena and NCP come together in this, Shiv Sena will contest elections for 180 to 190 seats and NCP will contest elections for 40 to 50 seats in Mumbai Municipal Corporation. The Shiv Sena currently has 97 councilors and the NCP has eight. So the sum of both is 105. In the forthcoming municipal elections, Shiv Sena and NCP can come to power together by electing some of their own corporators and taking other corporators with them. The NCP does not have much strength in Mumbai. Shiv Sena will focus on giving seats to NCP in Marathi speaking wards. In the wards where BJP is strongest, both the parties are planning to fight vigorously. The linguistic structure will determine the maximum number of candidates in Shiv Sena and NCP.
Both the parties will come together to reduce the strength of BJP in Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Just as both the parties kept the BJP away in the state, efforts are being made in Mumbai to keep the BJP out of the limelight. In the upcoming municipal elections this year, it is likely that it will be difficult for Shiv Sena to establish power without any help. That is why Shiv Sena will fight with NCP.