MLC poll debacle: Fresh war of words in Mahayuti; BJP, Sena Trade sabotage charges

Mumbai: An unexpected drubbing in the MLC polls has led to widening cracks within the Mahayuti alliance as BJP and Shiv Sena have turned against each other. While BJP has publicly blamed Shiv Sena for the debacle as it fielded rebel candidates, Shiv Sena has hit back at the BJP claiming that the latter has lost touch on the ground, with party leaders calling for the return of Eknath Shinde as chief minister.

With the Mahayuti winning just two seats and BJP suffering a drubbing in Nagpur and Pune, almost the entire state BJP leadership slammed Shiv Sena for the loss. "We could have won all five seats; the numbers were in our favour. However, our ally, Shiv Sena, did not give us proper support and did not follow the alliance dharma. Their party leaders like Ravindra Dhangekar openly campaigned against our party candidate even when they had no candidate there. Not just in Pune, but even in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Sena MLA Abdul Sattar openly worked against the NCP candidate that led to his defeat," said BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban.

Read more: Uttar Pradesh MLC polls: BJP wins 6 seats, Samajwadi Party bags 5 as final results out


Ban claimed Shiv Sena, "greedy for one seat", had ensured that the Mahayuti could not achieve a sweep. Ban asked Shinde to expel Dhangekar and Sattar from the party. Another BJP leader, Pravin Darekar, considered close to Devendra Fadnavis, said Sena committed the "sin" of defeating its allies and the oneupmanship will "harm the future of Mahayuti".

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena's Abdul Sattar proudly admitted his role in ensuring the defeat of the official NCP MLC candidate, Satish Chavan. "BJP has 132 MLAs. They need 145. It is up to them to decide how to safeguard the alliance. The elections had been fought under Shinde's tenure and our party feels that Shinde should be chief minister," Sattar said. Ravindra Dhangekar also openly admitted to campaigning against the official BJP candidate, Smita Jadhav, and said the results were a reflection of how people thought about the leadership of the government. Shiv Sena spokesperson Anand Paranjpe termed the allegations "baseless" that Sena was the reason for the defeat.