Rare local alliance in Thane civic body reshapes Maharashtra’s political equations
January 7, 2026: In an unexpected political development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have come together in the Ambernath Municipal Council in Thane to dislodge Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction. The rare tie-up, formed after last month’s municipal elections where BJP and Shiv Sena contested separately, has sent ripples across Maharashtra’s political landscape, especially as the two parties remain allies at the state and national levels.
The new coalition, named the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi, also includes councillors from Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction. Together, the alliance secured a clear majority of 32 members — 16 from BJP, 12 from Congress and four from NCP — allowing BJP’s Tejashree Karanjule to take over as mayor. BJP corporator Abhijit Karanjule Patil has been appointed the group leader, strengthening the alliance’s grip over council functioning in the Mumbai metropolitan region.
The Shiv Sena has sharply criticised the move, calling it an “unholy alliance” and accusing the BJP of political betrayal. While the partnership ensures stable control of the civic body, political observers say it highlights the growing trend of pragmatic, numbers-driven alliances at the local level, even if they come at the cost of ideological consistency and strain broader political relationships in the state.