Maharashtra MLC polls: Blame game begins in Mahayuti as BJP accuses Shiv Sena for defeat

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. File | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini In Maharashtra, a blame game began among the ruling alliance partners BJP and Shiv Sena on Thursday (October 29, 2026), within hours after the result of the five Legislative Council seats were declared.The BJP accused its rulian coalition Mahayuti partner Shiv Sena of putting its greed before its allies, leading to a loss of three seats. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena accused the BJP of failing to work honestly in the interest of its allies, and also of unfair seat distribution. “There was a complete lack of co-ordination about seat sharing, from day 1,” said Shiv Sena leader Anand Paranjpe.The ruling Mahayuti, consisting of the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, won two of the five seats int he MLC polls, with the BJP and the Shiv Sena winning one each. The NCP failed to retain the only seat it had been allotted in the seat sharing. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) won two seats and the Congress retained its Nagpur seat, giving a jolt to the BJP.After the results, both the BJP and the Sena said that had the alliance partners worked together, they would have won all the five seats in the State.“In the elections for the Teachers and Graduates constituencies, Shiv Sena, an ally party, did not provide the expected cooperation in Pune and Nagpur. In Pune, by extending support to Sachin Sanap at the eleventh hour, Shiv Sena dealt a blow to the unity of the Mahayuti alliance itself. The votes they received were not the ones that went to the BJP in the Graduates election. Meanwhile, in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Abdul Sattar went so far as to campaign directly against the Nationalist Congress Party. That too had an impact,” BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban said on Thursday (October 29, 2026).He said the alliance would have won the elections “had the Shiv Sena upheld the principles of the Mahayuti alliance by cooperating with the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party”.“However, driven by the greed for one seat in Pune, Shiv Sena put its ally parties in a difficult position and squandered the opportunity to win three seats. Taking a stance that harms ally parties for the sake of one seat is not in the interest of the Mahayuti,” Mr Ban said.‘BJP should introspect; no coordination since seat distribution’The Shiv Sena hit back at the BJP, saying the party failed to maintain coordination since the beginning, and indulged in unfair seat distribution. It also claimed that several field leaders of the BJP did not work for the alliance partners.“There was a complete lack of co-ordination on seat distribution since the beginning. In Pune, we had insisted that we should get at least one of the two seats. Both the seats did not have a sitting BJP MLC, and yet they wanted both the seats for themselves,” party leader Mr. Paranjpe told The Hindu.In Pune, the BJP won one seat and the other seat was won by NCP (SP). Previously, the seats were with the Congress and the NCP.The Shiv Sena had backed an independent candidate against Pune teachers’ constituency’s BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade, who won the seat.Mr. Paranjpe said the BJP should first see if its own party leaders worked for its allies. “Instead of saying that Abdul Sattar did not work for the allies, the BJP should see if Prashant Bam worked for them. They should introspect. When the BJP wants to tell us about lack of co-operation for the Marathwada seat given to NCP, it should understand that there was anti-incumbency of three terms against the NCP candidate. The same candidate had fought as the NCP SP candidate for the last Vidhan Sabha elections. So the BJP cadres were unhappy with him. In Nagpur, their own leaders had rebelled. Their candidate Anand Sole raised the flag of rebellion. So it is the BJP which needs introspection,” he said.He also put the onus of cooperation and collaboration on the BJP. “It is the largest party in the country and in the State’s alliance. If it works in coordination with the Shiv Sena and the NCP in the future, then we can collectively win the future elections as Mahayuti. They should think about it,” he said. Published - October 29, 2026 12:46 pm IST