India, Jan. 4 -- Put in a tight spot by its new ally, the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), the Congress has decided to support independent candidates in the 16 seats returned by the VBA for the Mumbai civic polls as it could not find candidates for these seats.

The Congress will also engage in a friendly contest in another five seats with its allies -VBA, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) and Republican Party of India (Gavai).

On Tuesday, the last day of filing nominations, the VBA returned 16 seats to the Congress, placing the party in an awkward position. Congress leaders frantically searched for candidates for these seats but they too failed to find any. The seats are ward numbers 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 30, 46, 8...