After BJP's civic poll win, Fadnavis warns cadres against attacking allies

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, following the BJP’s thumping victory in the local body polls, has asked BJP leaders and workers not to resort to sharp attacks on the party’s allies like the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

According to a NDTV report, quoting sources, the remarks were made during the Maharashtra BJP’s core team meeting at the Chief Minister’s office late on Monday night (December 22). The report further stated that despite the BJP’s success in the Maharashtra local body polls, Fadnavis, during the meeting, flagged the BJP’s defeat in some municipal councils and nagar panchayats, including districts with BJP MLAs.

The Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and the NCP registered a sweeping victory in elections to 288 municipal councils and nagar panchayats across Maharashtra. Collectively, the ruling partners secured 207 president posts, while the opposition grouping of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) was restricted to 44. Of the total, the BJP emerged with 117 presidents, the Shiv Sena won 53, and the NCP secured 37. In the opposition camp, the Congress put up the strongest showing with 28 posts.

Seat-sharing tussle in NDA

The run-up to the polls, however, was marked by sharp friction within the ruling NDA camp. Seat-sharing negotiations between the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP proved difficult, resulting in several instances of so-called “friendly fights” where alliance partners fielded candidates against each other.

Also Read: BJP sweeps local body polls; Fadnavis says fought it on 'development plank'

One of the key takeaways from the results was the performance of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. For the first time since the party split, the Sena contested directly against the BJP in multiple local bodies. Despite being the junior partner in the Mahayuti arrangement, the Sena recorded a higher strike rate than its senior ally.

The results also indicated an expansion of the Sena’s footprint beyond its traditional bastions in the Konkan region and the Thane belt. The party made visible gains in rural and semi-urban areas, underlining a broader geographical spread.

What Shinde said

Reacting to the outcome, Shinde said critics who had dismissed the party as Thane-centric had been answered, asserting that the Shiv Sena had reached “from Chanda to Banda” across the state.

Also Read: Maharashtra to see big fight for 29 civic bodies, including BMC, on Jan 15

Shinde’s showing assumes significance given the political backdrop of the 2022 rebellion that split the Shiv Sena and brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. While Shinde retained the party name and symbol, his former leader repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the breakaway faction, reported NDTV.

Within the ruling alliance, the BJP’s decision to back Shinde as Chief Minister was widely viewed as a tactical arrangement ahead of the Assembly polls. After the election, Devendra Fadnavis took over as Chief Minister, with Shinde moving to the deputy’s post, a transition that was accompanied by tough negotiations over ministerial portfolios within the alliance.