Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Oct 29: Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal has described the recent Legislative Council election results as a warning sign for the ruling Mahayuti alliance after the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three of the five seats in the state, triggering a blame game among the ruling partners.

The results have raised concerns within the BJP-led alliance, with leaders questioning the reasons behind the electoral setback and pointing to a lack of coordination and alleged internal sabotage. The BJP and its allies performed well in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka in elections to 28 Legislative Council seats across four states, while the MVA made gains in Maharashtra, including retaining the Nagpur seat.

“The results are a matter of serious concern for the Mahayuti government and our own party. We have to analyse why such voters are moving away from us,” Bhujbal said.

The BJP's central leadership has reportedly taken note of the outcome and is expected to seek an explanation from Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan to determine whether disputes within the Mahayuti alliance or internal factionalism contributed to the losses.

A meeting involving Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar is also expected to take place amid growing tensions within the ruling coalition. According to sources, the discussions are likely to focus on the electoral setback, differences among alliance partners and measures to restore coordination.

Within the Mahayuti, the BJP has blamed the Shiv Sena for the loss of three seats, alleging that the party failed to honour the principles of alliance cooperation during the Teachers' and Graduates' constituency elections.

In Pune, the Shiv Sena allegedly extended last-minute support to Sachin Sanap, undermining the alliance's unity. In Nagpur, the BJP claimed that votes secured by the Shiv Sena in the Graduates' constituency did not transfer to its candidate. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar allegedly campaigned against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), further hurting the ruling bloc's prospects.

BJP leaders argued that the Mahayuti could have won all five seats had the Shiv Sena supported the BJP and the NCP instead of concentrating on securing a seat in Pune.

BJP MLA Nitesh Rane also criticised the lack of coordination among alliance partners and alleged that elements within the coalition may have worked against its interests.

“United, we are safe. If the Mahayuti had fought together, the election outcome would have been different. The Mahayuti demonstrated its strength in the Legislative Assembly; our alliance partners should take note of this,” Rane said.

He also called for an investigation into whether supporters of Shiv Sena (UBT) were operating within the ruling alliance.

“We must investigate whether there is any Uddhav-sympathiser or someone close to Matoshree operating from within our Mahayuti alliance,” he added, referring to the residence of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Defending the BJP's overall performance, Rane dismissed the Congress victory in Maharashtra as a result of independent candidate Karale Guruji's influence, particularly the transfer of second-preference votes.

“The Congress has no real standing; they won solely on the strength of Karale Guruji's second-preference votes,” Rane said, making a sharp attack on the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi.

Rane also targeted Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, challenging him to explain the performance of the party's three candidates and alleging that the UBT faction had relied on the Congress during the elections.

Raut, meanwhile, hit back at the ruling alliance, saying the results should prompt introspection within the BJP and the Mahayuti. He argued that the outcome demonstrated the importance of ballot-paper voting and pointed to defeats in constituencies considered strongholds of the ruling parties.

“Self-introspection is needed in politics. With the MLC election, BJP and Mahayuti have to introspect. They have lost Nagpur, Pune and everything. They don't have anything left. The elections happened on ballot papers and they lost everything,” Raut said.

One of the most significant setbacks for the BJP came in Nagpur, the home city of Chief Minister Fadnavis, part of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's Lok Sabha constituency and the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Congress candidate Abhijit Govindrao Wanjarri defeated BJP rival Sudhakar Kohle by 3,271 votes in the Nagpur Graduates' constituency.

“The way the BJP put its all into these elections; big leaders of the BJP were in Nagpur. However, voters were with us,” Wanjarri told reporters.

The results have intensified questions over coordination within the Mahayuti alliance, with the coming days expected to see further discussions among its leaders on the reasons for the setback and the steps needed to prevent similar losses in future elections.