Maharashtra MLC Election Results Spark Rift Within Ruling Mahayuti Alliance

On October 23, voters in five graduate and teacher constituencies elected members to Maharashtra’s Legislative Council. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) secured three seats, while the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance captured two. The BJP won the Pune teachers’ seat; Shiv Sena retained the Amravati teachers’ seat. The opposition took the Pune graduates’, Nagpur graduates’ and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) graduates’ seats. In Nagpur, Congress candidate Abhijit Govindrao Wanjarri defeated BJP rival Sudhakar Kohle by 3,271 votes after a second-preference count.

ThePrintMaharashtra MLC Polls: BJP Blames Shiv Sena For Loss In 3 Seats, Alleges Alliance Principles Were Ignored BJP Gains In Maharashtra MLC Polls, But Alliance Strength Tested To Its Limit

BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that Shiv Sena failed to honor alliance commitments in Pune and Nagpur, citing the party’s last-minute support for independent candidate Sachin Sanap in the Pune teachers’ contest. Ban argued that Shiv Sena’s votes in the graduates’ constituency did not translate into support for the BJP and that Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar’s campaigning against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav further weakened the coalition. Maharashtra BJP vice-president Keshav Upadhye called for a review of the results, questioning why the alliance stopped at two seats despite the possibility of a clean sweep had partners contested together.

Maharashtra MLC Polls: BJP Blames Shiv Sena For Loss In 3 Seats, Alleges Alliance Principles Were Ignored ThePrintBJP Gains In Maharashtra MLC Polls, But Alliance Strength Tested To Its Limit

BJP MLA Nitesh Rane blamed a lack of coordination and alleged sabotage from within the Mahayuti, asserting that united candidates could have altered the outcome. He dismissed the Congress win in Nagpur as a fluke driven solely by independent activist Karale Guruji’s second-preference votes. Rane also accused Shiv Sena (UBT) and its MP Sanjay Raut of hiding behind the Congress and failing to disclose the performance of their three candidates.

BJP Gains In Maharashtra MLC Polls, But Alliance Strength Tested To Its Limit Maharashtra MLC Polls: BJP Blames Shiv Sena For Loss In 3 Seats, Alleges Alliance Principles Were Ignored ThePrint

• “The Congress has no real standing; they won solely on the strength of Karale Guruji's second-preference votes,” — Nitesh Rane

BJP Gains In Maharashtra MLC Polls, But Alliance Strength Tested To Its Limit

• “The way the BJP put its all into these elections; big leaders of the BJP were in Nagpur. However, voters were with us,” — Abhijit Govindrao Wanjarri

BJP Gains In Maharashtra MLC Polls, But Alliance Strength Tested To Its Limit

• “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?” — Keshav Upadhye

ThePrint

These statements illustrate the growing blame game and introspection within the ruling coalition following the council poll results.

Maharashtra MLC Polls: BJP Blames Shiv Sena For Loss In 3 Seats, Alleges Alliance Principles Were Ignored