Mumbai: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has on a number of occasions said that the Mahayuti will be united in contesting the upcoming elections to municipal corporations across Maharashtra in major cities.
And while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena seem to be working together, Mahayuti’s third constituent, Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is standing in the shadows.
The NCP, a traditional rival of Shiv Sena and BJP especially for local body elections, has not been an active part of seat-sharing talks underway between BJP and Sena in several major municipal corporations. Meanwhile, in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, the “friendly fight” NCP and BJP agreed on is turning into a fierce battle. The BJP has poached a clutch of NCP leaders from Pune district, irking its ally.
“There are various issues with the BJP and Shiv Sena at several places that makes it difficult for us to join hands with them. During last year’s Lok Sabha election, we campaigned for the lotus and bow and arrow at most places, some even in our strongholds. It was the same story for the assembly polls. But now we must take our clock symbol to every house. Our ground cadre needs the boost,” a senior leader from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP told ThePrint.
In the 2024 polls, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP contested just 4 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats as part of the seat-sharing pact within the Mahayuti. The party emerged victorious in just one. In assembly polls later the same year, NCP contested 59 of the 288 seats as part of the alliance and won 41.
NCP leaders said BJP’s constant poaching of leaders from allied parties has also not gone down well with them.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra will be held on 15 January, followed by the counting of votes on 16 January.
With 117 councils, BJP turned out to be the clear winner in this month’s polls to 288 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, followed by the Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 53 and Ajit Pawar-led NCP with 37.
Sunil Tatkare, NCP’s Maharashtra president, speaking to reporters Tuesday, said, “For alliance talks across Maharashtra I have spoken with CM Fadnavis and Union Minister Amit Shah. In some places discussions are going on, but we haven’t reached any conclusion. From today, nominations are being filed. We have a couple of days.”
Also Read: Internal fighting saw Mahayuti & MVA form unlikely ties in some seats. How they fared in Maharashtra
BJP’s poaching irks NCP
The day the State Election Commission (SEC) announced the municipal corporation polls, CM Fadnavis said BJP will not contest the elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, where both parties are strong, together.
He said, it will instead be a “friendly fight”.
The friendly fight is, however, likely to be more of a staunch battle with local functionaries of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in favour of tying up with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, which is part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Speaking to reporters Sunday on the possibility of the two NCPs coming together, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said, “If local functionaries have any suggestions, they should meet the district presidents and see what can be worked out. When votes are divided, people find it difficult to get elected. When you try to avoid that, it becomes easier to get elected.”
Further, the induction of several former NCP office bearers by BJP in the Pune district has not gone down well with the Ajit Pawar-led party. The list of those BJP poached includes NCP’s former mayors, deputy mayors and standing committee chairpersons.
“Just before these defections, our senior leaders met the CM in Mumbai and it was decided that Mahayuti allies should not poach from each other. And yet the very next day, BJP’s Pune leaders broke that understanding,” said a second NCP leader who did not wish to be named.
On Monday, the NCP did a tit for tat and inducted Sandeep Waghere, a former BJP corporator and a political heavyweight in the district.
Deputy CM Pawar said, “Elections are happening after nine years and party workers have been waiting. If a party takes a lot of people from outside, then the original party workers will not get space and will try to find other opportunities. Every party will try to field the best possible candidates. I will try the same for my party.”
Meanwhile, Pawar has been giving special attention to Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad with the two corporations being the party’s traditional bastions. In 2017, BJP dislodged NCP from both corporations. Party leaders said Pawar spent hours meeting party workers to select candidates for the polls.
‘NCP not invited for seat-sharing talks’
Earlier this month, CM Fadnavis had a meeting with Deputy CM Shinde, followed by another meeting between Shinde and BJP Maharashtra chief Ravindra Chavan to discuss joining hands for the upcoming municipal corporation elections. NCP leaders were not a part of these meetings.
Chavan and Shinde decided to form local level committees of functionaries to discuss seat sharing at different places and said these committees will invite all alliance partners including NCP.
In Thane, the home turf of Shinde where NCP has also traditionally had a presence and BJP is looking to aggressively make inroads, NCP leaders say they were not invited for the Mahayuti meeting.
In Navi Mumbai, NCP leaders say BJP didn’t invite party leaders but Shiv Sena did. “However, the tone was that BJP and Shiv Sena will majorly divide seats between themselves and then we can probably take the Muslim-dominated wards. They were reducing us to a Muslim party,” the first NCP leader quoted above said.
The NCP was considered to be strong in Navi Mumbai till local strongman Ganesh Naik defected to the BJP in 2019 along with a bunch of corporators.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “There are talks going on at some places, in Vidarbha, in Marathwada. We will decide in a couple of days. In Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, we ourselves decided not to fight together because there are a lot of karyakartas. Where all karyakartas of all three parties can be adjusted there will be an alliance, and where there isn’t there will be a friendly fight.”
‘Positive for alliance in Mumbai’
In the Mumbai civic body, BJP minister Ashish Shelar and Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam had said that the party won’t ally with NCP if it is contesting the poll under the leadership of MLA Nawab Malik.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has framed alleged money laundering charges against Malik in connection with a case linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, BJP and Shinde-led Sena are said to be in the final stages of seat sharing negotiations in Mumbai, where NCP has a very marginal presence.
On Tuesday, Tatkare said, “I spoke to the CM about Mumbai, after which I had a long conversation with Ashish Shelar over the phone. We will have discussions again. Talks between BJP and Shiv Sena are underway. We are positive about including NCP in the Mahayuti alliance for Mumbai.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)