A little over a month to go for the assembly elections, the BJP in Maharashtra appears to be split in the middle over its alliance with the Shiv Sena, fuelled by a game of one-upmanship and future ambitions.
On one side of the chessboard is Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who apparently shares an excellent rapport with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. Facing him is state party president Chandrakant Patil, said sources.
"Chandrakant Patil's group is confident that the BJP can form the next government on its own. The BJP does not need the Sena to lean on. In 2014, we had no major resources still we won 122 of the 288 seats. Today, we have everything," a highly placed source from BJP told DNA.
The upbeat mood of the public following the removal of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir is the biggest motivation of the Patil camp to go solo in the state polls, said the source. "Besides, a recent internal survey said we could win 160-plus seats. Why should we then need the Sena?
Fadnavis, who turned 49 last month, is keen to take along Sena as he sees himself as a potential player in Delhi's politics in the absence many tall leaders, said the source. "He [CM] doesn't want to antagonise the Sena at this juncture."
Messages sent to Fadnavis didn't elicit any response.
Patil, considered close to BJP president and Union home minister Amit Shah, spiked the speculations on Saturday when he said that a 50:50 formula for seat-sharing with the Sena is very difficult. "But we are committed to an alliance with the Sena. We will also swap the seats as per the strength of the party depending on constituencies," Patil said in Nagpur.
In the present assembly, the BJP has 122 MLAs against Sena's has 62. Congress has 42 legislators, while NCP has 40.
Moves & Strategies
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| CM Fadnavis, who turned 49 last month, sees himself as a potential player in Delhi’s politics |
| At this juncture, he is not keen to antagonise Shiv Sena, said sources |
| The BJP and Sena have agreed to share CM’s post between Fadnavis and Aaditya Thackeray |
| The Patil camp feels BJP is too strong to win the polls on its own |
"During Lok Sabha polls, Amit Shah, Fadnavis, Uddhav and his son Aaditya had agreed to share an equal number of seats in the state elections as well as the CM's post. Fadnavis is willing to concede the CM's chair to Sena against the wills of others in the state unit," said a source close to the CM.
The source also said that a cold war has been brewing between Fadnavis and Patil over the state leadership.
"When the party wanted to replace state president Raosaheb Danave, Fadnavis lobbied for his cabinet colleague Ram Shinde saying he is a young and an OBC face. The other group led by Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar suggested Eknath Khadse's name. However, Amit Shah announced Chandrakant Patil's name. It was a major setback to Fadnavis. He does not want anyone from the BJP to come close to the CM's post," added the source.
Senior political analyst Hemant Desai said Delhi doesn't have too many big leaders at present. "After the death of strong leaders like Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, there is a vacuum in the central leadership of the BJP. If the CM post is shared with the Sena, then there are strong chances Fadnavis will leave for Delhi after completing his term as the CM."
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 "Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray")
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