Napier's Conservative Party candidate Garth McVicar says an anti-amalgamation campaign by Labour candidate Stuart Nash clashes with Labour policy.
But Mr Nash rejects the claim, adding Labour leader David Cunliffe is "fully supportive" of his stance and Mr McVicar is behind on the debate.
Mr McVicar told Hawke's Bay Today he, like Mr Nash, was opposed to amalgamation, but that his position was aligned with his party's policy, while Mr Nash's was not.
He said Labour had supported changes to the Local Government Act which had knocked down barriers to amalgamation. "His Government has been part of the 2012 local government reforms, so he's on a totally different tangent ... If his party's got a decision that's polar to his, then the party's going to win the debate. He can't win." Mr Nash last month came under fire in an opinion piece by former Napier City councillor John Harrison in Hawke's Bay Today, who said Labour's local government spokesman, Sua William Sio, had confirmed that Labour supported amalgamation, "directly contradicting" Mr Nash's statements.
But Mr Nash had since responded to the criticism, saying his stance on the amalgamation process was "100 per cent consistent with the Labour Party's".