Shiv Sena & BJP in alliance fight after strong BMC show

The results of the urban civic body elections in Maharashtra including the all important cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) proves that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to be the most buoyant political force, but the Shiv Sena too is a force to reckon with, at least in Mumbai. The election result has put the friends-turned-rivals in a rather tricky relationship situation in the state and at the centre, reports First Post.

The BJP swept the Pune polls, retained Nagpur municipal corporations and has made a handsome performance in other municipal corporations. It has all the reasons to be jubilant, but the fact that despite nearly trebling its seats, from 31 seats in 2012 to 82 in 2017, the fact that the BJP is not the single largest party has been a bit of a dampener for the party.Given the nature of the present relationship between Shiv Sena and the BJP, there is a strong possibility the two parties may not join hands to run the BMC. There is a great deal of reluctance on either side to form yet another alliance when they actually are so bitterly opposed to each other.Uddhav Thackeray  may seek support from his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party although both these parties have been totally marginalised. The NCP won nine seats whereas the MNS won a mere seven. If these two parties agree to support the Shiv Sena that would take Shiv Sena's numbers to 100, still 14 away from the required 114. Now in an unlikely possibility if the others which include Samajwadi Party, Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Independents that make up to 14 back Shiv Sena, the regional outfit would barely make the majority mark without seeking help from Congress and the BJP.

The BJP will get a chance to form a government only if the Shiv Sena can't muster those numbers.

And if that happens, it would then be BJP’s turn to seek support from the Shiv Sena or chart out another route seeking support from MNS and NCP. But even with help from MNS, NCP and others, the BJP numbers would reach only 112. Either the Congress or Shiv Sena has to support the BJP if it wishes to run the corporation. Support from the Congress to the BJP is of course in a realm of impossibility while time will only tell if some thaw develops between the Shiv Sena and BJP when it comes to numbers. A BJP leader cryptically told Firstpost that "at the moment we are looking at all possibilities. Nothing is ruled in, nothing is ruled out. Let us see how things follow."