BJP, Sena bury the hatchet, to contest major civic polls together

BJP leadership steps in to broker peace; Sena played its trump card – it’s seven MPs supporting the NDA govt

MUMBAI: Weeks after a slugfest between the BJP and Shiv Sena, during the first phase of local body elections in the state, the two parties in the ruling Mahayuti alliance have decided to play nice – they will contest elections to all major municipal corporations, including Mumbai and Thane, as an alliance.

BJP, Sena bury the hatchet, to contest major civic polls together

The state BJP unit officially buried the hatchet on Friday, announcing that both parties will reconcile and contest elections to most municipal bodies together. A total of 29 municipal corporations and district councils (panchayat samitis) will go to the polls in January next year, the final leg of three-phase elections to local self-governing bodies in the state.

Back-room meetings that led to the decision to contest as partners were hectic. Steered by the BJP’s central leadership, they were triggered by a recent meeting between Shiv Sena leader and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and Union home minister Amit Shah, where Shinde had complained that the state BJP had violated the spirit of the alliance.

What followed was a series of meetings in the last few days, including one between Shinde and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of state BJP chief

Ravindra Chavan and the BJP’s election in-charge Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday.

After that, the core committee of the BJP met to work out details of the alliance for the municipal elections, followed by a meeting between Shinde and Chavan on Thursday night. Two days ago, Chavan met Amit Shah in Delhi, to discuss seat-sharing within

the Mahayuti.

Both parties were on the same page on two aspects – one, to stop poaching local leaders from each other’s camps, and two, contesting the elections as partners in most municipal corporations. “We will constitute coordination committees at the local level in municipal corporations to chalk out strategy. We are positive about the alliance in almost all the major corporations. Decisions on Mumbai and Thane will be taken by top leaders of all three (Mahayuti) parties,” Chavan said.

He said elections to all 29 municipal corporations in the state are expected to be held in January. “Since the decision relating to district councils and panchayat

samitis is pending in the Supreme Court, their polls are expected to be delayed.”

According to BJP insiders, the party had been luring local Sena leaders as a precursor to going solo in the corporation elections. “The state unit had decided to go solo in most of the corporations in the MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region), PMR (Pune Metropolitan Region) and even in Vidarbha as the party has a very strong base there. This had triggered poaching from each other’s parties ahead of the first phase of the local body polls on December 2,” said one BJP leader.

Workers and leaders clashed often and, in some cases, the clashes were violent. Not only were the fault lines visible, the discord was tarring the Mahayuti’s reputation. The BJP’s central leadership eventually instructed its state unit to broker a truce for the remaining phases of the elections.

A Sena leader said that Amit Shah had told state BJP leaders that the support of the seven Sena MPs in the Lok Sabha were crucial to the BJP-led NDA government in Delhi, and to placate the Sena, the BJP may even consider compromising on the mayor’s post in some municipal corporations.

The BJP and Sena are expected to contest the Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan-Dombivali corporations together but the BJP wants to go it alone in all Vidarbha municipal corporations. Also, the BJP is not keen on contesting the municipal elections with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, especially in key bodies like Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

A section of the BJP leadership says the NCP has no presence in MMR, while it cannot forge an alliance with the party in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad as both parties have straight fights in these bodies. The BJP also believes the Muslim vote bank can be wooed by the Shiv Sena in MMR and thus wants the Sena on its side here.