The ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra has hit a major roadblock as it attempts to finalize a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) elections. With the nomination process commencing on Tuesday, tensions within the coalition comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have spilled into the open, threatening their plan to contest the civic polls as a united front.
Frustration Boils Over as Talks Fail
Shiv Sena leader and district guardian minister Sanjay Shirsat publicly expressed his frustration over the stalled negotiations. He squarely pointed the finger at certain BJP leaders, alleging that their lack of cooperation is the primary reason an alliance pact has not been sealed at the local level. Shirsat revealed that despite directives from the senior leadership of all three parties to fight the elections together, these instructions have failed to translate into a workable local compromise.
Shirsat stated that he personally initiated three separate rounds of discussions with the BJP, but all meetings ended without a breakthrough. "I initiated the talks and called the first meeting. This was followed by a second and a third meeting. The expectation was that these discussions would yield an output, but nothing came out of the three meetings held so far with the BJP," he said.
Allegations of "Unreasonable" Demands
The core of the dispute, according to Shirsat, revolves around what he termed "unreasonable" and "unrealistic" seat-sharing formulas presented by BJP negotiators. He highlighted a specific contentious issue involving wards represented by elected Shiv Sena corporators. "We have two Shiv Sena MLAs here who have their own wards and elected corporators. Traditionally, a seat belongs to the party that has the elected corporator. However, they are now demanding those seats too. This is not how negotiations are done," Shirsat asserted.
He interpreted this approach as a sign of "overconfidence" from the BJP and raised serious doubts about whether their alliance partner genuinely wanted the coalition to succeed in Sambhajinagar. Shirsat further claimed that the conduct of these local BJP leaders appeared to contradict the directives issued by senior state leaders like Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
BJP Responds, Points to Its Electoral Role
In response to the allegations, BJP MLC Sanjay Kenekar presented a counter-narrative. He urged Shiv Sena to acknowledge the BJP's crucial role in the recent electoral victories that benefited the alliance. Kenekar argued that although two of the city's three MLAs are from Shiv Sena, those elections were contested and won as an alliance where the BJP played a pivotal part.
"We have strong aspirants and cannot stifle their political future by conceding too many seats," Kenekar stated, defending his party's stance in the tough negotiations. However, he indicated that the door for dialogue was not completely shut, revealing that another round of talks between the allies is scheduled to take place within the next two days.
Despite the public spat, Shirsat stressed that Shiv Sena's preference remains a united Mahayuti contest. He expressed hope that minor differences over one or two seats should not be allowed to derail the larger alliance. The outcome of the final round of talks will be critical in determining whether the Mahayuti partners present a fractured or a cohesive face to the voters of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
