India, Dec. 23 -- A day after the Opposition parties' rout in the municipal council elections, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has reached out to the Congress for an alliance in Mumbai even as it continues finalising its seat-sharing plan with Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The Congress, unwilling to have dealings with the MNS, on Saturday declared its intention to stay separate from its Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners and has turned to Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar instead.

Uddhav Thackeray's priority in the crucial BMC elections-which will be held on January 15 along with those to 28 other municipal corporations-was an alliance with his cousin Raj. When the Congress refused to accept this, ...