MUMBAI, Dec. 27 -- As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls draw closer, a new party has emerged in the election fray, made up of mill workers' groups and Marathi organisations. The Samyukta Maharashtra Aghadi (SMA) with its agenda centred around Marathi rights, announced that it will contest at least 45 seats in the upcoming civic polls. The new party, formed on December 20, said it will announce the names of candidates for the polls on Monday. SMA leaders added that the Aghadi was not a temporary collective for the civic polls but would continue working for the welfare of the Marathi community even after the elections. Party leaders said the SMA's agenda centres around the Marathi language, Marathi identity, and the rights of Marathi workers. They added that while Marathi residents are being "thrown out of the city" existing political parties have failed to protect their interests. Convenor of the party, Ramakant Bane, said, "We are fighting the election for the marathi manus and the mill workers' heirs who have been denied homes, employment and alienated by the other political parties after the mills were shut in the city, forcing them towards unemployment, to move outside Mumbai limits." Bane said SMA plans to field candidates from families of former mill workers. "We believe that only the next generation of mill workers, if elected as corporators, can ensure justice for the families of the mill workers," he added. According to Bane, the Congress has approached the SMA to discuss a possible alliance in Mumbai. The Aghadi has also invited leaders from established parties who plan to contest as independents to join the SMA and fight elections on its ticket. The party is open to alliances with parties that present a clear and independent manifesto for Marathi people and mill workers. Bane said the city's textile mills once employed around 250,000 workers in the 1980s. After the mills shut down, workers' livelihoods were destroyed. Of the nearly 600 acres on which mills once operated, about 500 acres were taken over by real estate developers in the name of redevelopment. Although the government announced a rehabilitation policy for the mill workers, Bane said only about 15,000 of the 100,000 eligible mill workers have been rehabilitated so far, and the remaining families continue to live in slums or rented homes. He said that proposals to relocate mill workers' families to distant areas such as Shelu, Vangani, and Kalyan would affect their education, employment opportunities, and social life....