Maharashtra local body polls: Unease in Mahayuti over BJP's dominance, friendly fights

Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) Unease in the ruling Mahayuti over seat sharing for the upcoming local polls in Maharashtra has come to the fore with some leaders expressing apprehensions on BJP's "upper hand" and others citing the "tooth and nail" fights expected in what are otherwise dubbed as friendly contests.

The Mahayuti comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.

Speaking here to BJP workers from the Konkan region, Chief Minister Fadnavis said the party would aim for alliances wherever possible but would not shy away from friendly contests if seat-sharing talks failed.

"There should not be any bitterness in such contests, nor any extreme criticism of candidates from our allied parties," the CM told the gathering during a review meeting ahead of the civic polls.

While the three parties have publicly maintained that local body elections are primarily for party workers and that their wishes cannot be ignored, Sena and NCP leaders, in private, expressed apprehensions that the BJP could dominate once the local body polls are over.

They pointed out that that the BJP's strong organisational network could help it secure an upper hand in the subsequent elections to the nine vacant seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the local body constituencies.

"The BJP already has 132 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly, close to the majority mark of 144. If it controls most local bodies, its dominance in the Council will only grow," a senior NCP leader said on condition of anonymity.

Once the elections for local governing body are announced, the top BJP leadership will strongly support their own candidates and it will be a no-holds-barred situation, he added.

In such a scenario, the police will listen to the BJP rather than other allies, the NCP leader pointed out.

The home department, incidentally, is headed by CM Fadnavis.

A Shiv Sena leader expressed similar views while asserting that there was no question of taking a step backwards when it comes to winning an election, even though the opponent is from an alliance partner.

"These elections are crucial for strengthening the support base of MLAs and ministers and also help a party expand. It may be called friendly contests but it is always fought tooth and nail," he added.

Even though parties have asked cadre and leaders to avoid harsh remarks so as not to upset the alliance arithmetic, some statements have reflected the unease.

Shiv Sena leader and minister Gulabrao Patil speaking in Jalgaon earlier this week, said the BJP "talks of alliance in public but speaks of going solo in private".

"If the alliance does not happen, our workers will be ruined," Patil added while urging the BJP to show flexibility in seat-sharing "for the sake of workers' future".

BJP minister Chandrakant Patil has insisted the Mahayuti would jointly contest all elections.

"But where we have strong candidates, we will not sacrifice them. Friendly contests may happen in such places," he however maintained.

Social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, speaking in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Friday, said some persons within the alliance who do not want the alliance to happen.

"We want to fight the polls as Mahayuti, but we must be cautious of those trying to create rifts for their personal interests," he said.

Political observers believe that the forthcoming local body polls and the subsequent MLC elections will test the cohesion of the Mahayuti alliance.

The polls and the results could also reshape the internal power balance within Maharashtra's ruling bloc, these observers added. PTI ND BNM