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Furious with Shiv Sena's criticism, BJP explores option of snap poll

Possibility of defection from Congress, NCP also considered.

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Frustrated with everyday criticism by Shiv Sena inside and outside the Maharashtra assembly, the BJP core committee on Thursday night explored the option of mid-term polls in addition to getting rid of Shiv Sena by replacing it with factions from Congress and NCP.

Sources within the state government and the BJP informed DNA that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was very angry with Sena's criticism in the House over loan waivers for farmers. It was on Thursday evening that Fadnavis along with senior ministers Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawade, Pankaja Munde and Girish Bapat met at Patil's bungalow. BJP state unit president Raosaheb Danve and organising secretary Ravindra Bhusari were not present. Bapat, who is not member of core committee, was present in his capacity as Parliamentary Affairs Minister.

On the condition of anonymity, a minister told DNA that the meeting which lasted for about an hour explored all options. In the discussion, it was said that since the party had won Uttar Pradesh elections convincingly, the agenda of development coupled with Hindutwa could lead BJP to victory if mid-term polls are conducted in Maharashtra. However, they also felt the mid-term polls could be counter-productive and in such a scenario it would be advisable to go for defections from Congress and NCP.

All the ministers informed the meeting about how many MLAs from other parties they were in touch with. After taking a stock of the current political situation, the meeting came to a conclusion that 15 Congress MLAs and 14 NCP MLAs were ready to resign even today and join the BJP. The meeting explored the possibility of re-electing all these 29 MLAs and came to a conclusion that at least 22 to 24 could easily get re-elected, which could give BJP majority in the House of 288 members.

A few ministers opined that party should go for snap polls right away or with Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh going for polls at the end of the year. It was discussed that if the party was to go for snap polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entire BJP machinery at the national level could be deployed for BJP victory in the state.

The meeting concluded by deciding to send these deliberations of the core committee to the Prime Minister and party president Amit Shah. After the opinion and advice of the central leadership, the final decision could be taken in a few days or on an urgent basis depending upon the situation, informed the minister.

Sources pointed out that this meeting was held after the Congress-NCP meeting, in which it was decided that a state-wide march would be taken out for loan waiver. An insider said that the BJP is euphoric with its Uttar Pradesh victory but instead of going for snap polls, it can just put pressure on Shiv Sena so that it can fall in line after being threatened with being driven out of the state government. 

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