Mahayuti infighting continues as NCP targets Sena MLA for council poll loss

• NCP alleges Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar worked against its candidate Satish Chavan in the Aurangabad MLC poll.

• Sattar says he campaigned against Chavan on the instructions of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat.

• BJP and NCP blame the Shiv Sena for non-cooperation as Mahayuti wins two of five MLC seats.

Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti coalition constituent NCP on Friday, 30 October accused Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar of working against its candidate in the recently concluded Legislative Council elections in the Aurangabad graduates’ constituency, leading to his defeat.

Opposition NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsinh Patil defeated the NCP’s sitting MLC Satish Chavan in the polls held on 23 October. The results were announced this week. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar, is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, which also comprises the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

NCP chief spokesperson Umesh Patil said any misunderstanding on Sattar’s part could have been resolved through a meeting with deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena.

Speaking to a Marathi news channel in Pune, Patil acknowledged that there may have been a lack of coordination among the Mahayuti partners. The alliance won two of the five Legislative Council seats contested in Maharashtra, while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) secured the remaining three.

“Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar opposed [NCP’s Chavan]. If there was any misunderstanding, it could have been cleared by holding a meeting with Eknath Shinde. Only one person cannot be held responsible for this defeat. There may have been a lack of coordination among the Mahayuti parties,” he said.

Patil stressed that the ruling alliance partners needed to work together during elections. “If official Mahayuti candidate Satish Chavan says Abdul Sattar worked against him, then we have to accept it. But this is wrong because they take all the benefits of being in power. All three parties need each other and they should work together,” he said.

The NCP spokesperson said senior Mahayuti leaders should have coordinated well ahead of the Legislative Council elections to ensure a better performance.

“There are reasons for every poll defeat and victory. It was possible for Mahayuti to win all five Legislative Council seats. This would have been possible if top leaders of the alliance had coordinated three-four months before the elections, ensured proper distribution of seats and sorted out issues, if any,” he said.

Patil said NCP president Sunetra Pawar had convened a meeting between the BJP and the NCP ahead of the 23 October polling to discuss election-related issues.

“Sunetra Pawar initiated a meeting of BJP and NCP workers to sort out any pending issues among them. She called [BJP minister] Chandrakant Patil for this meeting. Talks about the elections continued until the day of filing nominations. If these talks had taken place earlier, we could have had enough time for planning and executing our election strategy,” Patil said.

After the final result was announced on Thursday, the BJP, which leads the Mahayuti alliance, accused the Shiv Sena of non-cooperation during the polls and undermining the coalition.

Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that the Shiv Sena had failed to fulfil its alliance obligations and accused Sattar of campaigning against the NCP candidate in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, formerly Aurangabad.

Speaking to reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar later in the day, Sattar admitted that he had campaigned against Chavan. “Our party leader and Minister Sanjay Shirsat told us that we will not support Satish Chavan, so I campaigned against him,” said the MLA from Sillod in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Of the five graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies that went to biennial polls, the Opposition MVA won three, while the Mahayuti alliance secured two. Polling was held in the Pune graduates’, Nagpur graduates’, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) graduates’, Pune teachers’ and Amravati teachers’ constituencies.

With PTI inputs