BJP blames Shinde's Sena after Council poll results, spars over 'alliance dharma'

Nagpur: As soon as the results of the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections were declared, the BJP and the Shiv Sena in the Mahayuti began trading charges. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three of the five graduates' and teachers' constituencies, while the Mahayuti got two.

Following the results, BJP's Maharashtra chief spokesperson Navnath Ban on Thursday accused the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, of not honouring its commitment to the alliance. He said the Sena did not cooperate in Nagpur and Pune, which reduced the ruling alliance's chances.

The main point of dispute is the Pune Teachers' constituency, where the Shiv Sena extended last-minute support to independent candidate Sachin Sanap against the BJP's official candidate. According to Ban, this dented the unity of the alliance, and the BJP gained nothing from it in the Pune Graduates' constituency.

Ban claimed that had the Shiv Sena backed the BJP and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar properly, the Mahayuti could have won all five seats. He also said the Sena's obstinacy in Pune put its allies in difficulty and cost the alliance a chance to increase its numbers.

Ban also alleged that Shiv Sena minister Abdul Sattar campaigned against the NCP in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar constituency. In a post on X, he questioned the Shiv Sena's commitment to alliance politics. He suggested that backing a candidate against allies is not consistent with the much-publicised "alliance dharma".

BJP vice-president Keshav Upadhye also demanded a comprehensive review of the results. He asked why the ruling alliance won only two seats when much better results would have been possible had the three parties coordinated their campaigns. He put this view on X.

The results in detail: in the Nagpur Graduates' constituency, Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari defeated BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale and retained the seat. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) won the Pune Graduates' constituency through Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav and the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates' constituency through Pratapsinh Patil.

The BJP won the Pune Teachers' constituency through Kaustubh Gavde, while Shiv Sena's Kiran Sarnaik won the Amravati Teachers' constituency. The BJP and the Shiv Sena thus got one seat each, the NCP did not open its account, and the MVA won three seats.

It remains to be seen whether the Shiv Sena accepts these allegations or responds to them.