Shiv Sena and BJP might cement the alliance by crushing its smaller allies in Mahayuti. However, the bickering over seat-sharing will cost both the parties heavily in the assembly elections scheduled for October 15.
The reason being the vehement and vitriolic fight among the two allies for the coveted CM's post.
"It has never happened in the history of our 25-year alliance. The animosity and bitterness in the attacks and counter attacks by leaders of Sena and BJP have spoiled the harmony of the alliance. Initially, the political atmosphere totally favoured us, but the bickering over seat-sharing in the last 10 days has changed the political scenario.
"Any last-minute patch up would be nothing but an adjustment to take on Congress-NCP. We doubt how wholeheartedly BJP workers would campaign for Sena candidates after this? They may even work to defeat our candidates in order to reduce our tally and claim the CM's chair as they have more MLAs," said a Sena MP requesting anonymity.
In the Lok Sabha elections, Sena-BJP cadre worked hard to make Narendra Modi the prime minister of India. "Now both parties are vying for the CM's post. We wanted to declare Uddhav Thackeray the chief ministerial candidate. But BJP pushed this important issue under the carpet saying CM post could be discussed post elections. Some BJP leaders have been saying party which gets the maximum number of seats would stake claim for the CM's chair. It means we will be fighting each other instead of fighting Cong-NCP. This is most worrying. We have talked about this to Uddhavji too. Let's see how our leaders now tackle this issue," said a Sena MLA from the suburb.
As part of the strategy, opposition leader and one of the CM aspirants, BJP's Eknath Khadse, has already started poaching sitting opposition legislators, according to Sena leaders.
"In Jalgaon district, Sena and BJP have equal number of sitting seats. Khadse recently inducted NCP sitting MLA Sandeep Savkare from Bhuswal into BJP. Bhusawal falls in Sena's share. If the sitting MLA is inducted into BJP, it means the seat will be taken from Sena and Savkare would contest from here on a BJP ticket. Similar tactics have been used in other constituencies as well. It will automatically reduce Sena's tally," said Ranjeet Shinde, political observer from Jalgaon.
A BJP leader however claimed that as Sena (151) would be contesting in 21 more seats than the BJP (130), it would face no threat from BJP.
"Sena has the upper hand as it's contesting in more seats. If large number of Sena candidates lose, it'll not be our fault. They should not blame us then. They should prove their network and base are stronger than ours. It's a competition where no one is a permanent friend or enemy. Here numbers matter. We will also have to fight to get
the coveted post. Modiji has clearly told us that the next Maharashtra CM should be from BJP. We have to work (using all means) to fulfil Modiji's dream," said a senior BJP leader.
The Sena leader said the party would depute separate teams to monitor if there is any conspiracy to defeat their candidates. "If BJP fields rebels, work secretly or hand-in-glove with out opponents to defeat our candidates, we will give them a fitting reply," he added.
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