The Congress party's decision to form an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) for the Mumbai civic polls, after initially planning to contest solo, has reportedly unsettled its city unit. The Congress allocated 62 seats to the VBA, along with seats to RSP and RPI (Gavai faction), a move senior leaders claim was announced without city unit consultation. While the city unit president expressed happiness, some party functionaries and observers feel this arrangement, particularly in BJP strongholds, diminishes the Congress's independent political voice in Maharashtra.