Even as the ruling Mahayoti leaders claim to have smooth coordination and feel confident of winning the upcoming local body elections, disagreements and targeting of allies by local leaders is on the rise, indicating growing friction at local levels. The latest is a statement by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and state Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil where he identified the Shiv Sena with Uddhav Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP).
Speaking at a party program in Sangli, Patil said: “Let us look at the list of political parties in Maharashtra. The NCP is Sharad Pawar’s party. Nobody says it is a workers’ party. Everyone says it is Sharad Pawar’s party. The second is the Shiv Sena. It was Balasaheb Thackeray. Then Uddhav Thackeray and later Aaditya Thackeray. MNS belongs to Raj Thackeray. The BJP belongs to whom? It is not Atalji, Advani ji or Modi. Gee, it belongs to the workers. The next day, Saturday, he repeated this statement in Kolhapur.
After the split in their parties, the names of Shiv Sena and NCP were given to the parties led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, respectively. Both are allies of the BJP in the state government. Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are in opposition. Despite this, Patel’s statement hurt the allies.
Shiv Sena Minister Sanjay Shirsat said Patel should be careful while speaking as the court has officially given the name of Shiv Sena and the party to us (Ekanth Shinde group). National Congress Party’s MLC Amol Mitkari described it as a “slip of the tongue”.
However, this is an addition to an already growing list of attacks and counterattacks within the ruling coalition.
In Pune, Shiv Sena leader and former MLA Ravindra Dhangekar has been leading the charge against Union MoS and BJP Lok Sabha MP Muralidhar Mohol in the proposed sale of Jain Boarding land in Pune. The involvement of Mohol’s former real estate partner in the deal has become an issue in Pune. The infighting went so far that the BJP complained to Eknath Shinde against Dhangekar, though the latter continued his attack against Mohol. Ultimately, the deal had to be cancelled. “I am working for justice and for the people of Pune. I am not against any individual,” Dhangekar said.
In Raigad, the ruling NCP and Shiv Sena are still far from reaching a settlement. The two parties have not yet reached a settlement regarding the Ministry of Guardianship in the region. Raigad and Nasik are two districts in the state where the guardianship ministry’s decision has not been taken due to disagreement between the two ruling parties. Sources claimed that the NCP has decided to ally with the Uddhav Thackeray-led opposition Shiv Sena in the local body elections. But NCP spokesperson and former MP Anand Paranjpe denied this, saying his party was a responsible ally and reports of any such alliance were false.
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Thane, the hometown of former Prime Minister and current Deputy Foreign Minister Eknath Shinde, and neighboring Navi Mumbai also witnessed friction within the ruling alliance. State Forest Minister Ganesh Naik’s frequent meetings in Thane and his call to “go it alone” in Navi Mumbai did not go down well with the Sena. “He is a senior minister and we respect him. But as a party we expect him to refrain from making statements that go against the interests of Mahuti,” said Thane LS MP Naresh Maske.
In coastal Sindhudurg district, the Sena and the BJP were at loggerheads again with the Sena’s Rajan Teli accusing BJP minister Nitish Rane – who is also Sindhudurg’s guardian minister – of being the mastermind in the loan scam at the Sindhudurg District Central Cooperative Bank. Rani responded by saying that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating Teli for allegedly misusing loans taken from the bank.
In Solapur, BJP MLA and former district president Sachin Kalyanshetty claimed that the party will go solo in the upcoming local body polls. “We have a strong organization and workers. We are ready to run in the elections alone,” he said, adding that local units have been empowered to make the final decision. Last week, two former MLAs of Ajit Pawar-led NCP in Solapur district, Rajan Patil and Yashwant Mani, joined the BJP.
In Vidarbha’s Buldhana, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad came under scrutiny after BJP district president Vijay Shinde warned that an alliance was only possible if the BJP was seen as a “big brother”. In Jalgaon, Sena MLA Kishore Patel announced his solo departure, accusing the BJP of recruiting all the independents who fought against it.
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Speaking to reporters at a Diwali function while commenting on the alliance in the upcoming local body polls, CM Fadnavis said that the ruling alliance will contest the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections as an alliance. He added: “But in other places, we will make decisions according to the local situation,” indicating that there is internal fighting in many places. “If we fight as a grand coalition, the opposition seats may increase. Therefore, we will fight independently without being overly emotional, and after winning, we will come together as a grand coalition,” he said. Days later, MP CM Eknath Shinde held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
When a senior BJP leader was asked about the controversies, he described them as minor but inevitable events. “Wherever there are two strong parties, we may see some friction, especially with local opinion polls. But that does not mean there is any problem with the alliance,” the leader said.
(tags for translation) Maharashtra local body polls
