Bombay High Court Halts Committee Formation In Ambernath Municipal Council Amid BJP & Congress Alliance

Amid major political drama among the newly elected members of the Ambernath Municipal Council (AMC) in Thane city, with the arch rivals Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress joining hands to sideline Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde Faction), the Bombay High Court on Saturday halted for the time being, the formation of various Subject Committees such as the Public Health Committee, Public Works Committee, Education Committee etc till Monday.Notably, the elections to AMC took place on December 20, 2025 which resulted in a fractured mandate with Shinde's Sena bagging 27 of the 60 seats, BJP and Congress managed to win on 14 and 12 seats, respectively. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (Ajit Pawar Faction) got 4 seats and independents won on 2.With no political party reaching the half-way mark of 31, an alliance was formed between the BJP and the Congress, which was supported by the NCP's 4 Councillors and the 2 independent winners. They together formed the 'Ambernath Vikas Aghadi' which was officially recognised as a 'pre-poll alliance' by the District Collector by his order passed on January 7, 2026. However, the Congress party expelled all the 12 elected councillors from its party for joining hands with the BJP and the latter's leadership too suggested against the alliance. Still the councillors support the BJP and have reportedly merged with the party.Amid all this, on January 9, the four councillors of Ajit Pawar's NCP switched sides and joined Shinde's Sena (taking its relative strength to 31) and urged the Collector to ignore the affidavits they filed in support of the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi. Accordingly, the Collector, while recalling its earlier order, recognised this newly formed Aghadi as a 'pre-poll alliance.'Challenging this decision of the Collector, the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi through senior advocate Girish Godbole petitioned a bench of Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Abhay Mantri, arguing that the collector erred in de-recognising it as a 'pre-poll alliance.' The Aghadi relied on the five-judge bench ruling of the High Court, which in Kumar Goraknath Shinde vs State of Maharashtra held that the post-poll alliance formed by independent candidates would be considered as a pre-poll alliance for all the purposes and not merely for the purpose of appointments in the Subject Committees. This, the five judges held, would halt the 'horse-trading' tactics.During the hearing, Justice Ghuge observed that the four councillors of the NCP have created a 'mess' by repeatedly switching sides. "These four are opportunistic fence sitters... First they went to the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi but eventually their love for the other side commenced and then they shifted sides...They have created all this mess... These four cannot hold the entire democratic system at ransom by creating a mess like this... These four fickle-minded persons are a cause of political upheaval..." the court orally remarked. The judges then suggested the parties that the matter can be solved either with the bench decided the case in entirety by hearing final arguments and staying the entire process of selections to the Subject Committees or remitting the matter back to the Collector, for considering the issue afresh and against deciding as to which is the first 'pre-poll alliance.'"Heavens are not going to fall... There shall be a stay on the process till Monday evening... You all come to the court on Monday and tell us what you think as to whether the Collector should decide the issue or we should proceed with the hearing," the judges said while adjourning the case till Monday.

Bombay High Court Halts Committee Formation In Ambernath Municipal Council Amid BJP & Congress Alliance

Narsi Benwal

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