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Maha political crisis: Shiv Sena was in direct contest with Cong, NCP in 54 seats
In 2019 assembly polls, of the 56 legislators elected, 54 were in a direct contest with Cong and NCP, alliance partners in MVA govt
For majority of Shiv Sena legislators currently in Guwahati and having accepted rebel leader Eknath Shinde’s leadership, the next immediate challenge back in their constituencies is the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) or the Congress. This along with other reasons, explain why the rebel MLAs are insisting to return to an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), their erstwhile ally. During the state elections held in October, the ruling BJP had emerged as the single-largest party with 105 assembly seats in a 288-seat strong house whereas its pre-poll alliance partner Sena stood second with 56 seats. The NCP and the Congress, on the other hand, secured 56 and 44 seats, respectively.
Of the 126 seats Sena had contested with its ally BJP during the 2019 assembly polls, the party was in direct contest with the Congress or the NCP in as many as 113 seats. Of these 126 seats, the Sena bagged 56 while the BJP managed to win 105 although the former severed its ties with the BJP after results due to differences over power-sharing between them and later joined hands with the NCP and the Congress.
Of the 56 legislators elected during 2019, 54 were in a direct contest with the Congress and the NCP while one defeated the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate while another emerged victorious against an Independent. For these 54 seats, while the Sena was up against the Congress in 25 constituencies, it beat the NCP in 29 seats, according to the results of 2019 assembly polls.
According to Mahesh Shinde, rebel Sena MLA from Koregaon, the party legislators had recently submitted to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray all the figures of funds they got for carrying out development in their constituencies. “We fought with the NCP and the Congress for years and later joined hands with them. Even after our MVA government came to power, most Sena MLAs were neglected in their own constituencies,” said Shinde, who is currently with Shinde at Guwahati. Mahesh claimed that senior NCP leader Jayant Patil after visiting constituencies of Sena MLAs announced that the next legislator will be of NCP. “Despite being part of alliance, NCP and Congress never followed alliance dharma,” he said.
Interestingly, the Congress-NCP alliance did not necessarily end up in second spot where the Sena won. The Congress won 44 seats of which the party defeated Sena nominees at 24 seats. Similarly, 28 of the 54 assembly seats won by the NCP were those where it contested against the Sena.
“These rebel MLAs from Sena took all the benefits for the past two and a half years. During this time, nobody reminded us about their political rivalry with the NCP or the Congress in their respective constituencies. The MVA experiment was new and came after the BJP backtracked from its promise,” said Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut.
Party-wise tally after 2019 assembly polls
Total seats: 288
BJP: 105
Shiv Sena: 56
NCP: 54
Congress: 44
Smaller parties and Independents: 29
