A tale of two Senas: Uddhav dominates MVA as Shinde grapples to retain his MPs

With both the Shiv Sena factions gearing up for their first major electoral battle in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls after a split in the party, the two camps are placed in contrasting positions in their respective alliances.

While the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray seems to be calling the shots in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising Congress and NCP (SP), the Sena faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is being reportedly forced to drop some of its sitting MPs by its alliance partner BJP citing “surveys”.

Uddhav Thackeray’s aggressive approach has left the Congress in Maharashtra high and dry. It is evident from the fact that the Congress, which was looking forward to don the role of a big brother in the MVA and contest elections on 20 to 22 seats out of 48 in Maharashtra, has been forced to eat humble pie, as it will now contest only 16 Lok Sabha seats. The Shiv Sena (UBT) will now contest the most number of seats (22) among the MVA allies, leaving the remaining 10 seats for the NCP (SP).

Unilateral move

Much to the chagrin of the Congress and the NCP (SP), the Uddhav-led Sena had also announced its first list of candidates unilaterally at a time when the seat-sharing talks among the MVA allies were underway.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress are at loggerheads since the former announced the candidature of Chandrahar Patil for Sangli and Anil Desai for Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha constituencies. The Congress had staked its claim on both the seats. In Sangli, the party wanted to field Vishal Patil, the grandson of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil, whose family has contested the seat for several years and won it.

Talking to the media, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said Sangli is their traditional stronghold, where they have a strong chance of victory, while Shiv Sena (UBT) lacks a presence. He argued that the Sena move to contest from Sangli would hand over a LS seat to the BJP.

Meanwhile, NCP (SP) chief convened a meeting of the MVA to sort out the differences among the allies. However, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut seemed indifferent and declared that the seat-sharing discussion has culminated, refusing to further engage on Sangli.

Earlier, Raut had hit out at the Congress, saying that the party should keep an eye on Delhi and not get involved in street politics. On the Sangli seat, he said, “The election will be contested with or without you.”

Trouble for Shinde

On the other hand, the Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is playing second fiddle to the BJP in the NDA. Unlike Thackeray camp’s domination in the MVA, the Shinde-led Sena faction in the NDA will have to be content with contesting 13 to 14 seats, even as the BJP intends to field its candidates from almost double the number of seats.

Moreover, the Sena may have to drop at least 5 of its 13 sitting MPs. It has already dropped three sitting MPs. Gajanan Kiritkar from Mumbai North West and Hemant Godse from Nashik are also set to be dropped.

The Nashik seat is expected to go to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, while Sena is looking for another candidate for Mumbai North West. When the party came out with its first list of 8 candidates, 7 of them were sitting MPs. The Sena had only dropped Krupal Tumane from Ramtek. Subsequently, the party also dropped Hemant Patil from Hingoli and Bhavana Gawli from Yavatmal Washim.

The Sena had to face embarrassment as it changed the candidate after declaring a nominee in Hingoli. The party has now fielded Hemant Patil's wife Rajashri Patil from Yavatmal Washim, while Baburao Kadam will be its candidate from Hingoli.

The party high command’s move to drop MPs at the eleventh hour even after holding deliberations with them and the BJP has left the Sena MLAs bothered, with many blaming the BJP for forcing their party to drop sitting MPs citing “surveys”. As per media reports, the Sena MLAs are already worried about their future as they too aren’t sure about getting party ticket in Maharashtra assembly polls scheduled to take place later this year.