India, June 6 -- The BJP, which is aiming to win over 680 urban and rural local bodies in the forthcoming polls, is hellbent on conquering the BMC, the largest and richest civic body in the country. Based on its internal surveys, the party is likely to contest 150 of the 227 seats in Mumbai to ensure that it wins more than half the seats on its own. This is, however, expected to lead to a tussle with its ruling ally, the Shiv Sena, which aims to contest over 100 seats.

Against the backdrop of talks between the estranged Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, and their likelihood of allying in the local body polls, the BJP checked out their potential in the BMC elections. The internal survey conducted by the party reportedly showed that the T...