India, Dec. 29 -- In an unprecedented move, the Congress on Sunday announced an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) for the BMC elections scheduled for January 15. The VBA, which had sought 70 seats, will now contest on 62, while the Congress will stand from 165 seats. A consensus was reached after several rounds of talks were held between the leaders of both parties.

The brand-new allies made the announcement in a joint media interaction. "The Congress and VBA are natural allies, as we both are fighting to strengthen constitutional values," declared Maharashtra Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal. "Recently, we jointly contested a few municipal council polls but we have now become alliance partners." Sapkal...