Maharashtra Congress Mulls Solo Contest in Local Body Polls

Maharashtra Congress may contest the upcoming local body elections without allies, as local units favor an independent fight.

By: Express News Service

October 13, 2025 10:18 PM IST

2 min read

Maharashtra Congress units want to contest local body polls independently, though the party’s final decision is pending.

AICC in-charge Ramesh Chennithala also confirmed Congress’ participation in an all-party delegation over voter list concerns.

The local units of Congress in Maharashtra are keen on fighting the upcoming local body elections independently, but the party is yet to take the final call, according to Ramesh Chennithala, Maharashtra Congress in-charge from the All India Congress committee (AICC).
“These are local body elections and we have asked the local units to take decisions on the alliance. However, it is true that our Mumbai Congress unit and even other units in the state have opined that the election should be contested independently. We respect their opinion. However, no final decision has been taken yet,” Chennithala said.

He was speaking to reporters on Monday after a meeting of the state political affairs committee held in the presence of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Harshawardhan Sapkal.

When asked about the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) contesting Lok Sabha and assembly polls together, Chennithala said, “Local polls are about local equations and local units.”

Commenting on the possibility of Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) joining the MVA, Chennithala said that no discussion on the same has yet taken place. “As of now, MNS is not part of the MVA. I am no expert in predicting the future… I can comment only on the present. As of now, there is no discussion with anyone or any such proposal of inclusion of the MNS in the MVA,” he said.

The senior Congress leader said that on October 14, an all-party delegation will visit the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra on issues regarding the voter lists.

“I spoke to Sanjay Raut (Rajya Sabha MP of Shiv Sena -UBT) and he said that it is an all-party delegation. An invitation has been sent to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. The issue about voters’ list was raised by our leader Rahul Gandhi first and therefore, we will be participating in the delegation,” he said, adding that senior party leader Balasaheb Thorat and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad will be participating in the delegation.

“Our state president is going to Delhi for party related work and therefore these two leaders will participate,” he said.

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