As the BMC elections edge closer, Maharashtra’s political climate is heating up, fuelled by rumours of discord between the BJP and Shiv Sena. Yet, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena party supremo Eknath Shinde dismissed the rift as ‘mere speculations’. The Deputy CM further said that he had consulted with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the allegations of poaching of leaders by the BJP and underscored the fact that both partners of the alliance must work together cohesively according to the ‘dharma’ of the alliance.
“I spoke to the CM about this (poaching). The CM agreed to certain things and said this must all stop. As I said, we have to fight the elections as an alliance. There will be Lok Sabha elections after this, so we must not do anything that will damage the alliance or create misunderstandings. Each of us must follow the alliance dharma,” Shinde said, quoted Zee 24 Taas.
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The Deputy Chief Minister further said that he will speak to his people to ensure that no Sena corporator joins the BJP. He added that Sena will also ensure that no BJP corporator joins the ranks of Shiv Sena before the polls. The Shiv Sena Leader’s remarks came days after some of his party’s members allegedly joined the BJP before the upcoming BMC polls.
Meanwhile, former BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that all the differences that have arisen would be resolved together after December 3.
Why Are Fault Lines Developing Between BJP And Shiv Sena?
The political fault lines between alliance partners started over the incident of the local body polls in Sindhudurg. The matter escalated after local police registered an FIR against Nilesh Rane, an MLA of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, for allegedly trespassing into a BJP supporter’s house.
According to the police, Rane had ‘raided’ the BJP supporter’s house on the pretext that a huge amount of cash was there in the BJP supporter’s house for distribution to voters ahead of the civic polls.
However, Nitesh Rane, brother of Nilesh Rane, who is a BJP leader flatly rejected the allegations and said that the cash was accrued through legitimate business income and that keeping cash at home should not be construed otherwise.
Commenting on the issue, Fadnavis said he supports everyone who “behaves well". “I don’t stand with a wrong person, even if the person is from my party. But the situation of Rane versus Rane is not good. We have to introspect about this after the elections," he added.