Maharashtra alliances at crossroads; four-cornered fight a distinct possibility now

MUMBAI: Even after the bypoll results administered a shock to BJP, a strong section of the state unit wants to go it alone in Maharashtra polls to ‘maximise gains’ and assume power with a new set of allies.

After the Lok Sabha results, Sena-BJP’s return to power in Mumbai was considered a mere formality. However in four months, the political situation has turned dramatically, with a four-cornered contest looking very much possible.

Leaders from Sena and BJP are on the verge of breaking the alliance as BJP’s confidence in a Modi wave has been goading leaders to abandon its oldest poll partner.

The fate of the Congress-NCP alliance also seems to depend on the Sena-BJP alliance. Many Congress and NCP leaders believe that if the Sena-BJP alliance breaks up, the Congress and NCP can also afford to go it alone.
“Our analysis shows that if we contest alone, we would be getting more than 100 seats, why should we have an alliance with the Sena and get only 119 seats to contest, out of which we would be only able to win around 70 to 80 seats? What is the use of contesting in an alliance if it is going to only hurt our electoral prospects, asked a BJP leader.

Two days back Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar had said that he was envisaging a situation where all major political parties would contest elections on their own.

A huge section of Congress leadership in the state is also not in
favour of an alliance with NCP if the Sena-BJP tie up doesn’t work out.

“NCP has barely managed to get two more Lok Sabha seats and on that basis it wants an equal tie up, if the Sena-BJP alliance doesn’t work then we don’t have to worry about secular votes getting split as the anti incumbency votes would also be split. While it is sure that we would lose power, at least it would show NCP where it actually stands, because if it contests alone it won’t get more than 40 seats,” said a senior Mumbai Congress leader.

Political analyst Yuvraj Mohite, however, said that the going alone talks were only posturing. “NCP has not been seeing attacking the Shiv Sena of late. They could be trying to gauge the mood of how the public would perceive if they go along with the Sena,” said Mohite. He added that he doesn’t see the Sena-BJP alliance ending.