BJP's Navnath Ban accuses Shinde's Sena of costing Mahayuti seats in MLC polls

Talk has begun in political circles that all is not well in Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti, after the alliance's poor showing in the Legislative Council elections to five teacher and graduate constituencies. Differences between the BJP and the Shiv Sena have now come out in the open.

In the results for the five seats, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three, while the ruling Mahayuti got two. BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban shared a post on the social media platform X over the outcome, in which he made serious allegations against his party's ally, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena. His statement has stirred fresh activity in Maharashtra politics.

Analysing the results in the teacher and graduate constituencies, Ban questioned the Shiv Sena's role. He said that despite being part of the Mahayuti, the Sena did not give the expected support in Pune and Nagpur during the election.

According to Ban's post, in Pune the Shiv Sena extended support to Sachin Sanap at the last moment, which hurt the unity of the Mahayuti. He said the votes Sanap received could not go to the BJP in the graduate election.

Ban also mentioned Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. According to him, Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar campaigned directly against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) there. Ban said such campaigning against an ally was damaging to the Mahayuti and the alliance suffered for it.

The BJP spokesperson wrote in his post that had the Shiv Sena upheld Mahayuti dharma and fought in coordination with the BJP and the NCP, the Mahayuti would have won all five seats. He described that as what would have been a historic win.

According to Ban, in its desire for one seat in Pune, the Shiv Sena put its allies in difficulty, and the chance of winning three seats slipped away. He said harming allies for the sake of one seat was not in the interest of the Mahayuti. His remark was sarcastic in tone.

After Navnath Ban's statement, the Shiv Sena's response is awaited. All eyes are on how Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena replies.