PUNE, Dec. 23 -- With barely two weeks left for municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, back-channel communication between the Congress and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has intensified to explore a possible alliance, signalling a renewed attempt to consolidate the opposition vote against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). NCP leader Ajit Pawar, according to sources, reached out late on Sunday to Congress leader Satej Patil, who is the party in-charge for Pune district, for a possible alliance in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls. Patil confirmed that communication has been initiated within his party though he refrained from sharing details, saying discussions were at a preliminary stage. The outreach comes close on the heels of a Congress's proposal last week, when an understanding with the NCP for 20 seats in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). The proposal is being seen as part of a broader Congress push to bring the Ajit Pawar-led NCP into the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) fold. Congress leaders privately admitted that the party's limited strength in urban Maharashtra, particularly in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, has made an alliance imperative. A split opposition, they fear, would only help the BJP retain control over key civic bodies. Bringing the NCP on board, even Ajit Pawar's faction, is being viewed as a pragmatic move to consolidate anti-BJP votes....