With just days to go before Maharashtra's crucial local body elections, tensions inside the ruling Mahayuti alliance have burst into the open, with both the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the NCP (Ajit Pawar) publicly accusing the BJP of violating coalition norms and destabilising the alliance from within.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde fired the first warning shot after several of his Shiv Sena leaders joined the BJP despite a "no-poaching pact" agreed between him and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. "My point is simple. If we follow coalition dharma, our partner parties must also follow it. This alliance is not new. It dates back to the era of Balasaheb, Atalji and Advaniji. It was never formed for power or positions. It was formed for ideology. Today, our NDA leader Narendra Modi is focusing on strengthening this alliance. Everyone must honour that," a visibly anguished Shinde told NDTV in an interview.
The pact, announced weeks ago, was meant to prevent the BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) from wooing each other's leaders ahead of the December 2 elections for 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats. But the agreement has quickly unravelled. Several Shiv Sena functionaries, including Ambarnath's Rup Singh Dhal, Anand Doke, Shilpa Rani Wadkar and Anmol Mhatre, have crossed over to the BJP, leaving Shinde's camp fuming and openly questioning the BJP's intent.
Doubling down on his offensive against the BJP, and CM Devendra Fadnavis in particular, Shinde on Monday admitted to levelling allegations against the Chief Minister.
"Yes, it’s true that I made allegations against the CM, and he also made allegations against me. But you need to understand that these elections are local elections, which are fought on very local issues and are fought by the local party workers. Big political issues do not need to be brought up in these local body elections. But party workers like to see their senior leadership come and join them in these election campaigns," Shinde told reporters in Sambhajinagar when asked about his remarks.
Shinde had reportedly also raised the issue with Union Home minister Amit Shah as the acrimony between the two alliance partners peaked over instances of some influential corporators switching sides. Addressing a rally in Dhanau on November 23, Shinde took potshots at the BJP without naming it and said that people had united there to defeat "dictatorship and arrogance".
"Even Ravana was arrogant, and hence his Lanka was burnt down...You have to do the same on December 2. People must finish corruption and vote for development," he said while campaigning for the party candidate.
The unease within the Mahayuti is not limited to the Shiv Sena. In an unusually sharp criticism, Maharashtra Sports minister and NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Manikrao Kokate accused the BJP of fostering "splits and divisions" across the political landscape. "The conflicts are only amidst the Mahayuti. The election struggle is inside our alliance. The Opposition is nowhere to be seen. Shiv Sena (UBT) is still visible, but they are diluted. Splits here, splits there, the BJP is only creating divisions," he said while campaigning in Nashik's Sinnar region. Kokate added that "veteran workers are sitting at home" as several were denied tickets, hinting that seat allocation had further damaged morale.
He also alleged that the BJP had "poached one of my family members in the Assembly elections" and recently approached a relative of MP Rajabhau Waze. "BJP is a diluted party," Kokate remarked, provoking an immediate backlash.
BJP leaders retaliated by mocking Kokate's complaints and dredging up the controversy that led to his removal as Agriculture minister. "CM Devendra Fadnavis will give the right answer. He is showing why he was made the Sports minister from the Agriculture minister," Nitesh Rane said. Another BJP leader, Parinay Fuke, said Kokate was making such remarks as he was "bored with playing rummy", referring to the widely reported incident of Kokate playing online rummy on his phone during an Assembly session.
The escalating war of words has exposed a fragile Mahayuti struggling to present a united face ahead of polls that will be seen as a test of grassroots support after the alliance's sweeping 235-seat victory in the 2024 Assembly elections. Political observers say the December 2 results will indicate whether the BJP-led coalition still commands local confidence or whether internal rifts and mutual distrust have begun to erode its dominance.
Despite the rising tensions, Chief Minister Fadnavis sought to downplay the crisis, temring the allegations "baseless" and insisted that the BJP "strictly adheres to democracy and the electoral mechanism."
Yet, repeated defections and open criticism from two key partners suggest that the Mahayuti may be entering the local body elections under its most strained phase yet.
If the alliance fails to manage these tensions quickly, the polls meant to demonstrate its continued strength could instead become a referendum on its internal instability.
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