Sena, BJP downplay tensions as campaigning for phase 1 ends

Tensions between the two allies have escalated over the past two weeks, especially in Sindhudurg district where Shiv Sena MLA Nilesh Rane is facing his younger brother and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in the Kankavali Municipal Council election

Mumbai: Dismissing the high voltage, dramatic campaign by Mahayuti partners Shiv Sena and BJP against each other till hours before campaigning ended on Monday for the first phase of local body polls, chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde stressed that the parties were not fighting against each other and they would work together as one unit after the polls.

CM Devendra Fadnavis

“We are two different parties but we are not divided. It is true that whatever happened during the election campaign was not good for democracy…We need to introspect,” Fadnavis told reporters on Monday.

Speaking along similar lines, Shinde said neither he nor Fadnavis had spoken against each other.

“We have been speaking for development,” he said.

Tensions between the two allies have escalated over the past two weeks, especially in Sindhudurg district where Shiv Sena MLA Nilesh Rane is facing his younger brother and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in the Kankavali Municipal Council election. On November 27, Nilesh Rane barged into a BJP worker’s house and summoned the local police to seize cash found on the premises. The money, Nilesh alleged, was stashed away to distribute among voters, setting off a verbal spat with his brother which continued till the closing hours of campaigning.

On Monday, another tussle between the two parties came to the fore in Sangola in Solapur, when the election commission raided the house of Shiv Sena leader and former MLA Shahaji Patil and some other local Sena leaders.

The Shiv Sena questioned the timing of the raid and alleged it was due to Patil attacking BJP leader and Solapur guardian minister Jaykumar Gore during a campaign rally.

“We feel that the election commission raid was because of Patil’s criticism of Gore during a campaign rally. Our leader Eknath Shinde has taken very serious cognisance of the raids,” said Sena leader and social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat.

Meanwhile, in Sindhudurg, BJP MLA and fisheries minister Nitesh Rane attacked his elder brother over the ‘raid’ on a BJP worker last week, saying business owners often needed to keep cash at home.

“The people acting against us should remember that ‘Hamam mein sab nange hain (Everyone is naked in the communal bathhouse)’,” Nitesh Rane said.

Deepak Kesarkar, Shiv Sena MLA from Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district, alleged that the BJP wanted to finish off his and BJP MP Narayan Rane’s political career by engineering a rift between Rane’s two sons. The BJP hit back, saying it was the Sena which had acted against the spirit of the alliance and joined hands with Shiv Sena (UBT) in Sindhudurg.

“They faltered on the alliance spirit and are now cursing us,” BJP spokesperson Navnath Band said.

Chief minister Fadnavis, however, tried to downplay the tension between two allies, saying the BJP would look into the tension that brewed during campaigning after the election was over.

“The picture of Rane vs Rane that emerged during campaigning was very unfortunate. I do not stand by the wrong side, even if the person is from my party. I stand by the right thing and the right person,” he said.

Shinde, on the other hand, countered Sanjay Shirsat’s statement on the raid against Shahaji Patil in Solapur, saying it was not that serious.

“The raid is a routine process by the election commission. An enquiry will be conducted by the poll panel, but there is nothing serious to take cognisance of,” he said.

Other leaders of the two parties also said that while tensions had escalated during campaigning, things would return to normal after the polls.

“The ruling parties have occupied the opposition’s space, so they have attacked each other. This will result in the ruling parties winning most of the seats, which will help them bury the hatchet after the polls,” a BJP leader said, requesting anonymity.