In an unexpected political move in Maharashtra’s Thane district, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress came together to form an alliance named Ambernath Vikas Aghadi. The main aim of this alliance is to keep the Shiv Sena out of power in the Ambernath Municipal Council, even though Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party in the recent civic elections.

The alliance also includes the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar. The development is significant, as the BJP and Congress are strong political rivals at the national level, but have chosen to cooperate at the local level to control the civic body.

The elections for the 60-member Ambernath Municipal Council were held on December 20, 2025. In the results, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 27 seats, making it the single largest party. However, it fell short of the 31 seats required for a clear majority, which opened the door for other parties to form a post-poll alliance.

The BJP secured 14 seats, while the Congress won 12 seats. The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP won four seats, and independent candidates won two seats. BJP, Congress, NCP, and independents together reached a combined total of 32 councillors crossing the majority mark and formed the council administration.

The alliance led by BJP’s Tejashree Karanjule Patil defeated Shiv Sena’s Manisha Walekar in the election for the post of municipal council president. This marked a major political setback for Shiv Sena in a region that falls under the Lok Sabha constituency of its leader, Shrikant Shinde.

To lead the newly formed alliance, BJP corporator Abhijit Karanjule Patil was appointed as the group leader of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi, which includes councillors from BJP, Congress, and NCP.

Explaining the reason behind the alliance, Abhijit Karanjule Patil told The Times of India,

“Our objective was to free the administration from fear and corruption and to ensure development in Ambernath. Keeping that in mind, we formed this alliance.”

Patil also said that although the BJP managed to win the president’s post, the party did not have enough numbers to run the council on its own. Because of this, discussions were held with other parties at the local level, which eventually led to the formation of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi with Congress and NCP support.

Meanwhile, a Congress state spokesperson commented on the political development but maintained a cautious stance. The spokesperson said,

“No formal proposal for a tie-up has been received yet.”

The alliance has drawn strong criticism from the Shiv Sena, which accused BJP of acting against its own political stand. Balaji Kinikar, Shiv Sena MLA from Ambernath, criticised the move and called the alliance “unethical and opportunistic.”

Kinikar said that while the BJP speaks about creating a “Congress-free India” at the national level, it has chosen to support Congress at the local level in Ambernath in order to remain in power. He also claimed that Shiv Sena had held discussions with BJP leaders before the civic elections, but BJP eventually decided to side with Congress instead.

Efforts were made to contact Congress’s Ambernath city president, Pradeep Patil, for his response on the alliance, but he could not be reached for comment.

The formation of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi highlights how political strategies at the local level can differ sharply from national alliances, especially when control of civic bodies and administrative power is at stake.