MUMBAI, Oct. 24 -- The resistance within the Congress to joining hands with the Thackeray cousins for the BMC polls is growing more strident. In the latest instance, former Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap declared that the party should contest the polls independently not only in Mumbai but in other cities as well. "We should go solo," he said. "This is not my stand alone. Several others are of the same opinion, and this was conveyed during the political affairs committee meeting of the party on October 13. This is because these are local body polls, which are meant for grassroots workers. They should get an opportunity to contest, so we should not have an alliance with Uddhav Thackeray, let alone Raj Thackeray." A senior Congress leader corroborated that most of the party's senior city leaders, including Arif Naseem Khan, Amin Patel, Aslam Shaikh, Chandrakant Handore, Jyoti Gaikwad and Sachin Sawant, had voiced their opposition to an alliance with the Thackerays during the meeting. "The Shiv Sena (UBT) leadership has not yet spoken with the Congress despite coming close to striking a deal with the MNS," said a senior leader. "Having the MNS in the alliance would mean damaging our core voter base, as their ideology is the opposite of ours. Moreover, the Sena (UBT) also took away crucial seats of the Congress in the last election's seat-sharing deal." Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad responded cautiously to the statement, as the Congress is part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. "Congress workers do believe that the party's stand should be different in the BMC polls," she said. "This was expressed in the political affairs committee meeting as well as the executive committee meetings. However, the party leadership takes the final decision on any alliance." The Shiv Sena (UBT) tried to downplay Jagtap's views. "Bhai Jagtap said that the Congress has yet to decide if it wants to join hands even with its coalition ally, the Sena (UBT), and hence discussing an alliance with Raj Thackeray is remote. What he has said is true," said former mayor Kishori Pednekar....