Congress-NCP ally again in Kolhapur

As anticipated, the Congress and the NCP have again joined hands to share power in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC), party leaders said on Tuesday.

In a sign of revival of fortunes, the KMC will be the first major municipal corporation the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have bagged since their rout in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in 2014.

That rout broke their 15-year alliance in Maharashtra.

The Congress won 27 seats and the NCP bagged 15 in the 81-member KMC in the elections held on Sunday. The results were announced on Monday.

Together, the two parties achieved the magic figure of 41 to administer the prestigious civic body in western Maharashtra, an erstwhile kingdom of the Chhatrapati royal clan.

Congress leaders Satej Patil and Patangrao Kadam and NCP leader Hasan Mushrif made the announcement on Tuesday after they sealed the power-share deal to rule KMC for a second consecutive term.

"The Congress nominee will occupy the mayor's post while the NCP nominee will be the deputy mayor by rotation," Patil told the media.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party got only 12 seats while its local ally Tararani Aghadi scored 20. The Shiv Sena won four seats.

In a bid to keep the Congress out of power, the BJP and Tararani Aghadi were ready to extend outside support to the NCP. But the Congress and the NCP decided to shake hands again.