Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) Cracks surfaced in Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti bloc on Thursday as the BJP blamed ally Shiv Sena for the coalition’s poor showing in the Legislative Council elections, accusing it of non-cooperation and undermining the alliance.
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 BJP-led 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 minister Abdul 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.
NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav won the Pune graduates’ constituency, while Congress nominee Abhijeet Wanjari bagged the Nagpur graduates’ seat. NCP (SP) candidate emerged victorious in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Marathwada) graduates seat.
BJP nominee Kaustubh Gawade won the Pune teachers’ constituency, while Shiv Sena contestant Kiran Sarnaik secured the Amravati teachers seat. PTI ND RSY
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