India, Feb. 20 -- A day after a splinter group of nine corporators from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pledged its support to the Congress-led Bhiwandi Secular Front (BSF) for the mayoral elections of Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC), Congress on Thursday announced that Samajwadi Party (SP) - one of the members of BSF - is not a part of the bloc anymore as it has chosen to ally with Shiv Sena.

Congress has also decided to nominate BJP's rebel corporator Narayan Chaudhary as its candidate for the mayoral elections to be held on February 20, and has ordered its group leader Tariq Momin to issue a whip directing all the corporators to vote for Chaudhary in the polls. Momin has been nominated for the position of deputy mayor....