'Shakuni mamas' in Mahayuti should be identified BJP minister Nitesh Rane on Council setback

Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane on Thursday said it should be seen whether there were any "Shakuni mamas" within the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the wake of the results of the Legislative Council elections.

    Fissures have emerged in the BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance after the Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three out of five Council seats in the biennial elections, including the Nagpur graduates' seat in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's hometown.

    "It is time to find out whether there are any 'Shakuni mamas' within Mahayuti who follow the scripts that (Shiv Sena (UBT) chief) Uddhav Thackeray likes," he said.

    Shakuni is a villainous character from Mahabharata known for sowing strife.

    "We should see whether some people within Mahayuti are working to ensure that Uddhav Thackeray and the MVA sleep peacefully. The role of those trying to create discord within the alliance must be investigated," Rane said.

     The BJP leader also said that the ruling alliance did not achieve the expected success, but his party still won two seats in constituencies it had not contested last time.

    The outcome could have been different had Mahayuti partners fought the elections unitedly, Rane said.

    "We fought as one force in the Assembly elections, taking up the Hindutva agenda, and the results were evident. Our allies must understand the strength of Mahayuti," he said.

    Congress won the Nagpur seat not on its own strength but because of the second-preference votes polled by independent candidate Nitesh Karale, Rane claimed.

    "Our candidate was ahead by 4,500 votes in the first-preference count. The Congress candidate won because of Nitesh Karale's second-preference votes. The Congress should thank Karale," he said.

In a swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, he said the latter should analyse the defeat of his party's three candidates rather than comment on the internal affairs of other parties.

    The ruling alliance would analyse the results and introspect before deciding what action should be taken against those responsible for the disappointing performance, Rane further said.

The voting pattern in each constituency and the role of alliance partners would be examined, he said.

"Once all the information is available, the results will be analysed....Those who need counselling will be spoken to, after which the process of taking action will start," the BJP leader said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)