Mumbai, Oct 29 (IANS) A major rift has surfaced within Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti coalition — specifically between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — following the results of the recent Maharashtra Legislative Council elections for Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies.
The election results have exposed significant coordination gaps and localised rivalries within the Mahayuti coalition.
With the BJP increasing pressure on Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to take disciplinary action against rebel leaders, the alliance faces an urgent need to re-align its internal strategies and resolve portfolio distribution issues ahead of upcoming political challenges.
Out of the five contested seats, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) secured three seats Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituencies while the Mahayuti alliance managed to win two including Pune and Amravati Teacher’s Constituencies.
The defeat in key constituencies has triggered a fierce war of words, with the BJP and NCP openly accusing the Shiv Sena leadership of cross-voting, non-cooperation, and violating coalition ethics.
State BJP Chief Spokesperson Navnath Ban issued a detailed statement highlighting several instances of sabotage by coalition partners.
BJP candidate Smita Jadhav lost by approximately 11,000 to 12,000 votes. The BJP attributed this defeat to Shiv Sena’s decision to endorse Independent candidate Sachin Sanap, who garnered roughly 16,000 votes, effectively splitting the coalition’s vote base.
The BJP accused Shiv Sena’s Pune chief, Ravindra Dhangekar, of actively campaigning against the official BJP candidate.
Navnath Ban demanded that Eknath Shinde immediately expel Dhangekar from the party for betrayal.
In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seat, Shiv Sena minister Abdul Sattar publicly opposed the NCP’s official candidate, Satish Chavan (nominated under Sunetra Pawar’s leadership), further damaging coalition prospects.
Addressing nationwide criticisms from Opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Sanjay Raut regarding Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Navnath Ban pointed out that the Congress party won only 1 out of 28 contested seats across the country in these ballot paper-based elections. The BJP emphasised that voter preference remains consistently with the NDA, regardless of the voting medium.
Further, state BJP leader Keshav Upadhye said, “The expulsions from the Legislative Council are not proof of the Opposition’s success, but evidence of the deeds of some ‘well-wishers’ within the Mahayuti. In 2019, merely out of lust for the Chief Minister’s post, Uddhav Thackeray gave a lifeline of power to Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. That changed the direction of Maharashtra’s politics. If that same historical mistake is not to be repeated, the time for self-reflection has come today. Does a household exist where one works honestly but the other lays out a different tune? This question has now arisen for the ordinary BJP worker.”
Senior NCP leader and Cabinet Minister Hasan Mushrif expressed deep frustration over the lack of coordination among the three ruling parties. He warned that internal infighting is directly benefiting the Opposition.
He noted that with proper alliance management, key seats like Pune could have easily been retained. Additionally, Minister Mushrif touched upon administrative matters, expressing confidence that the Finance Portfolio would soon be allocated to the NCP as assured by the Chief Minister.
However, the Shiv Sena has hit back saying that the allegations levelled by BJP against the party are baseless, adding that the saffron party should introspect on its defeat.
State party spokesperson Anand Paranjape said that in Pune if BJP had given a ticket to a loyal worker, it would have created enthusiasm among voters and the BJP’s own workers rejected the outsider candidate. He also demanded that the BJP should give due respect alliance partners.
“There was a strong demand from party workers that Shiv Sena should contest one of the two seats in Pune during the Legislative Council elections. The candidate fielded by the BJP in the Pune Graduate constituency was not even a BJP member. Had the BJP given a ticket to a loyal worker who had dedicated his life and worked with steadfast loyalty for the party, that candidate would certainly have generated enthusiasm among party workers and voters. However, fielding an outsider candidate caused resentment among loyal BJP workers. BJP’s own workers and voters rejected this candidate. Therefore, putting the blame for this defeat on Shiv Sena is incorrect,” remarked Paranjape.
He further said that the BJP should come down to the ground and understand the sentiments of its workers. Due to the stance of BJP leaders in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Amravati, the Mahayuti suffered a setback. Assertions made by the BJP blaming Shiv Sena for the defeat in the Legislative Council elections are baseless, and all three parties should introspect on these results.
Paranjape stated that right from day one, the party’s stance was that Shiv Sena should be given one of the seats between the Pune Graduate and Pune Teachers constituencies. Decisions regarding four seats were made in the Mahayuti coordination committee meeting. However, the BJP announced candidates for three seats: Pune Graduate, Pune Teachers, and Nagpur Graduate. Shiv Sena withdrew its official candidate for the Pune Teachers constituency, Mangesh Chivate.
“The notion that ‘we (BJP) will contest all seats and win all seats’ is not appropriate for the Mahayuti. The BJP must maintain the respect of its alliance partners,” Paranjape said. He added, “The BJP, which claims to be the world’s largest party, should introspect on its own electoral strategy and internal discontent instead of shifting the blame of defeat onto its allies.”
He further stated that while a “5-to-0” result was expected, the Mahayuti secured victory in only two seats. “We have not blamed the BJP and will not do so. However, the BJP must also shoulder the responsibility of taking coalition partners Shiv Sena and NCP into confidence and working with coordination.”
“The BJP should conduct a ground-level review of what specific grievances exist among its workers, what mistakes were made during candidate selection, and where coordination lagged during the election. It is easy to blame allies, but far more important to identify the causes of intra-party discontent and implement corrective measures,” he suggested.
“Instead of engaging in mutual allegations, it is essential for all three parties of the Mahayuti to introspect on how to maintain better coordination in the future, how to give due respect to alliance partners, and how to avoid such mistakes in upcoming elections,” Paranjape clarified.
–IANS
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