Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) A blame game erupted in Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti bloc on Thursday over the BJP-led coalition's dismal show in the biennial Legislative Council polls as leaders traded charges, while a Shiv Sena MLA pushed for making Eknath Shinde CM once again.
Alleging a complete lack of coordination between allies, the BJP accused its partner Shiv Sena of failing to fulfil its duties in some constituencies and costing the ruling bloc a potential sweep. The coalition lead party accused the Shiv Sena of non-cooperation and undermining the alliance.
However, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, insisted his party followed "Yutidharma" (coalition dharma).
On the other hand, Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar suggested the BJP to follow the Bihar model of the past and make Shinde CM once again.
Of the five graduates' and teachers' constituencies of the council which went to the polls on October 23, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three, while the Mahayuti alliance bagged two. Polling was held for Pune graduates’, Nagpur graduates’, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) graduates’, Pune teachers’ and Amravati teachers’ constituencies.
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that the Shiv Sena did not fulfil its alliance obligations in the Pune and Nagpur constituencies and its last-minute support to independent candidate Sachin Sanap in Pune (for teachers’ seat) dented the Mahayuti's unity.
He accused Shiv Sena MLA Sattar of campaigning against the NCP in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, contributing to the alliance's setbacks.
The Mahayuti alliance consists of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP.
In a post on X, Ban said the Shiv Sena's support to Sanap did not translate into votes for the BJP in the Pune graduates' constituency.
He claimed that had the Shiv Sena, led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, supported the BJP and the NCP, the Mahayuti could have won all five seats.
"By pursuing one seat in Pune, the Shiv Sena put its allies in difficulty and cost the alliance an opportunity to win three seats," Ban said, adding such a stand was not in the interest of the Mahayuti.
His party colleague, Maharashtra BJP vice-president Keshav Upadhye, called for a review of the council poll results, questioning why the ruling alliance could win only two seats despite the possibility of a clean sweep if its partners had contested together.
"Will we introspect as the Mahayuti after the results of the five seats? Will we consider why we stopped at two when there was a strong possibility of winning all five seats had we contested together?" Upadhye asked in a post on X.
Speaking to reporters in Thane, Shinde emphasized that the alliance contests elections with mutual coordination, noting, "The Shiv Sena always follows Yutidharma".
He pointed out that the Mahayuti alliance fought contests together across multiple seats, while friendly contests took place in specific areas like Pune, reinforcing that the party has consistently honoured coalition principles.
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Shiv Sena MLA Sattar said it is up to the BJP to keep the Mahayuti alliance intact.
He maintained the BJP has 132 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly and needs 145 seats to remain in power, suggesting the coalition lead party requires support of its allies to run the government.
Sattar opined that the BJP should follow the coalition formula of Bihar where Nitish Kumar was made CM in the past despite his party JD(U) getting less seats than the national outfit in the Assembly polls.
In the Aurangabad graduates constituency elections, Sattar openly supported NCP-SP candidate Pratapsinh Patil, who defeated ruling NCP's MLC Satish Chavan.
Asked about this, Sattar said, ''Eknath Shinde goes to Delhi where he meets PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. We will feel happy if they make Shinde CM of Maharashtra. They (BJP) have 132 MLAs and they need 145 MLAs to be in power. So it is in the BJP's hands to keep the Mahayuti intact."
''The (Assembly) elections held earlier (in 2024) were fought under the leadership of Shinde so the Shiv Sena feels Shinde should be made CM. In Bihar, elections were fought under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and he was made CM despite his party getting less seats than the BJP," the MLA said.
He rejected Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Ban's criticism over the MLC poll outcome in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar,.
"The NCP candidate was defeated and the candidate from the (Opposition) NCP (SP) won. I don't know what Navnath Ban has to do with it. The NCP should speak over it (election result). I was against the (NCP) candidate and not the Mahayuti," Sattar insisted.
"Ban may not remember that we voted for the BJP candidate in the Legislative Council polls in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (held earlier). That time chief minister and deputy CM (Shinde) gave orders to me (to ensure Mahayuti's win). This time, I was not told whom to campaign for," he said.
Sattar said he was ready to reply to questions coming from top leaders of the coalition.
He said, ''Our party leader and Minister Sanjay Shirsat told us that we will not support Satish Chavan so I campaigned against him (Chavan). I will felicitate (the winning candidate) openly. If top leaders
(CM Devendra) Fadnavis and (deputy CMs) Shinde and Sunetra Pawar (who heads NCP) question me (over poll result in Sambhajinagar) I will answer them. If not, then I will think that what I did was correct."
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)