The BJP’s “open door policy”, aimed to expand its footprint across Maharashtra by inducting not only the Opposition leaders but also those from its allies, has heightened tensions among the ruling Mahayuti partners just ahead of the local body polls.
This came to the fore Tuesday when the ministers of the Shiv Sena, barring party chief Eknath Shinde, skipped the weekly Cabinet meeting. They instead met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis later to complain against state BJP chief Ravindra Chavan’s “aggressive overdrive” to wean away their leaders.
Arguing that the Sena had done the same in the past, Fadnavis reportedly told the ministers that they must together “ensure that henceforth the leaders from within the alliance are not poached upon”.
Fadnavis’s position stems from the informal pact that the Mahayuti partners – the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP – made following their big win in the November 2024 Assembly polls. “There was an understanding that leaders will not be poached from allies in order to ensure greater coordination within the government as well as among the grassroot workers. But all the three parties were free to induct leaders from the Opposition camp,” a BJP insider said.
The Sena ministers’ move came a day after Chavan inducted a host of Sena leaders, including corporator Amnol Mhatre and ex-corporators Mahesh Patil, Sunita Patil and Sayali Vichare into the BJP fold in Kalyan-Dombivali, the home turf of Shinde’s son and Kalyan-Dombivali MP Shrikant Shinde. “All my friends have shown faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Fadnavis, and have decided to join the BJP, which has always upheld Hindutva,” Chavan said while welcoming the leaders.
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The tension between the BJP and the Sena in Kalyan-Dombivali trace their origins to last year’s Lok Sabha elections, when local BJP leaders, including Chavan, opposed Shrikant’s candidature from the seat, forcing an intervention from Fadnavis.
The BJP’s move to induct its leaders has not gone down well with the Sena. “We talk of coordination. There must be norms which every coalition partner must respect,” said Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat, a close Shinde aide.
Another Sena minister, who wanted anonymity, said, “If the BJP is looking to weaken alliance partners, we will be forced to look for alternatives.”
The latest BJP-Sena flashpoint comes close on the heels of the two parties clashing over various issues. Fadnavis’s decision to re-appoint Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray as the chairman of the Balasaheb Thackeray Memorial Committee despite Shinde’s objections and the BJP’s move to appoint Shinde’s arch rival Ganesh Naik as its Navi Mumbai and Thane in-charge for the upcoming local body polls has made their ties more strained.
The BJP’s other ally NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, was also left fuming last month when the BJP inducted its former MLAs Rajan Patil and Yashwant Mane. BJP sources said these “defections were engineered” with an aim to gain a foothold in Solapur of Western Maharashtra – a region seen to be the NCP’s turf – while also consolidating the party for the local body polls.
“There is a saying that all is fair in love and war. This applies to elections too. Crossing over from one party to another ahead of local body polls is a common phenomenon. Moreover, leaders are keen to join the BJP after its success in last year’s Maharashtra Assembly polls and the recent Bihar elections,” a senior BJP leader said.
The three-phase local body polls are set to be held during December-January, in which the three Mahayuti partners are likely to go alone with the exception of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Both Shinde and Ajit had often rushed to Delhi in the past to meet the BJP central leadership over their concerns.
Shinde, who is still seen to be harbouring an ambition of becoming the CM, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month to “extend Diwali greetings”. However, BJP sources said a subtle message was conveyed to him that Fadnavis will continue to lead the Maharashtra government till 2029.
While Ajit, who is facing the heat over a controversial land deal involving his son Parth Pawar, met Shah on November 14 to “congratulate him for the NDA’s Bihar sweep”, other issues were also on the table then, sources said.
“Ajit was definitely not discussing the Bihar polls with Shah for half an hour. He must have spoken about the local body polls and put forward his defence over the land deal involving Parth,” a source said. Ajit has publicly defended his son over the deal row.
BJP stance
The BJP has maintained that it has never sought to induct sitting elected representatives of its allies, claiming that it has only considered such inductions in the cases of their second- or third-rung leaders who felt “sidelined” in their respective parties and saw “brighter prospects” in the BJP.
On his part, Chavan said the inductions only indicated that these leaders wanted to “contribute to the good work that the BJP is doing for Maharashtra”. “Why should we stop anyone if they want to join our party?” he asked.