BJP-Sena rift widens over LS seats, rogue ministers

The ruling BJP and Shiv Sena are at odds over the sharing of certain Lok Sabha seats and allegations of corruption against four Sena ministers. The Eknath Shinde-led party has reportedly refused to buckle to pressure from the BJP, which has asked Shinde to rein in or drop the ministers. The BJP has also staked a claim to the Thane and Kalyan Lok Sabha seats, which the Sena has traditionally held. The two parties are also at loggerheads over the allocation of funds for BJP-held constituencies.

Mumbai: The tussle between the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra has intensified over the sharing of certain Lok Sabha seats and the BJP’s objections to four ministers from the Sena. However, the Eknath Shinde-led party, which held a meeting late on Monday to discuss these issues, has reportedly decided to take a firm stand and not buckle to pressure from its ally.

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According to sources, the BJP has asked Shinde to rein in or drop four of his ministers for their unruly behaviour, alleged corruption and non-performance. The four—agriculture minister Abdul Sattar, food and drug administration minister Sanjay Rathod, public health minister Tanaji Sawant and water supply minister Gulabrao Patil—are considered close aides of Shinde, and significantly were key players in the coup planned by Shinde against then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray last year.

“During a meeting with union home minister Amit Shah, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis named the ministers, saying they had given a bad name to the government and also failed to take the state and central government schemes to the electorate,” said a BJP leader requesting anonymity. The BJP has reportedly told the Shinde camp that there will be no cabinet expansion until a decision is taken to act against the ministers.

BJP Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule termed the talk about the BJP’s objections to the ministers as an attempt to create a rift between the two parties. “The BJP never interferes in the decisions of its allies regarding induction into the cabinet,” he said. “The decision on berth allocation in the Shiv Sena has to be taken by Eknath Shinde, while for us the decision is taken by the BJP leadership. This is nothing but an attempt (by the opposition) to set a fake narrative and create a rift between the ruling parties. But it will make no difference to the ruling alliance.”

The two parties are also at loggerheads over the Thane and Kalyan Lok Sabha seats. In a rally in Thane on Sunday, BJP leader and public welfare department minister Ravindra Chavan publicly said that both the constituencies were traditionally held by the BJP. “The people who rode on the Modi wave in 2014 and 2019 are now eyeing our constituencies,” said the BJP’s Thane MLA Sanjay Kelkar. The Kalyan seat is represented by Eknath Shinde’s son, Shrikant, and he and the entire Shinde camp were upset by the BJP’s staking a claim to it. Shrikant had late last week announced that he would resign if the BJP wanted to field its candidate.

Bawankule’s defence was that the seat-sharing between the alliance partners was always decided by the central election committee. “No state leader has the right to decide or pass any remarks on it,” he said. “The two parties will take an amicable decision on the Thane and Kalyan seats.”

Ruling party leaders are on a collision course over other issues as well. According to a BJP leader, the differences emerged between Shinde and Fadnavis last week. The BJP legislators had complained to Fadnavis about the allocation of funds for constituencies held by BJP legislators. “The CM had started separate meetings for MLAs from his camp, to which the BJP legislators had objected,” said an official from the CMO. “To pacify his MLAs, Fadnavis has also started holding separate meetings for issues related to BJP constituencies.”

Meanwhile, agriculture minister Abdul Sattar has stirred up another controversy. His personal assistant Deepak Gawli, who impersonated an agriculture department officer, was part of a squad that demanded a bribe of ₹5 lakh some weeks ago from a fertiliser company in Akola. Sattar initially said that Gawli was not his PA but an agriculture department officer. The case came to light after the Akola-based fertiliser company lodged a police complaint.