Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray (R) (PTI file photo)

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday announced that it will contest the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections alone, a decision confirmed by party leader Ramesh Chennithala while speaking to ANI news agency.“We are all ready for the BMC elections. I have come to attend the meeting… Congress has taken a decision to contest the elections alone,” Chennithala said.The announcement comes amid one of the most striking political developments in Mumbai ahead of the polls, the growing proximity between Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo Raj Thackeray.Once bitter rivals, the cousins now appear aligned in their belief that losing Mumbai would significantly weaken the broader Thackeray political legacy.For Uddhav Thackeray, winning control of the BMC may be the last major opportunity to reassert political relevance after the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena. For Raj Thackeray, the election is being framed as a battle to safeguard Marathi identity, with the MNS presenting itself as the custodian of Maharashtra’s linguistic and cultural character.While no formal announcement has been made yet, the Sena (UBT) and MNS are expected to declare their alliance for the BMC polls next week.Notably, the Congress is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra, alongside Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP – SP).In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the MVA suffered a major setback, losing heavily to the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide victory.Polling for BMC’s 29 municipal corporations, 32 zilla parishads and 336 panchayat samitis will be held on January 15, with results to be declared the following day on January 16.