Cracks have yet again surfaced within the ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra after a series of Zilla Parishad (ZP) leadership contests in key districts saw the Shiv Sena get left out of power, triggering a sharp exchange between the party and its ally BJP.
Even as senior leaders of both parties maintained that the alliance remains intact, developments point to growing friction over power-sharing and local political manoeuvring at the local level. The tensions have come into sharp focus during elections for Zilla Parishad (ZP) president and vice-president posts across districts, with the Sena accusing the BJP of systematically trying to sideline it.
The latest unease reflects a broader pattern in the BJP-Shiv Sena relationship since the Mahayuti stormed to power in the 2024 Assembly elections, where the BJP emerged as the single-largest party.
The BJP has rejected the latest accusations, accusing the Sena of exploring parallel political arrangements.
Parbhani flashpoint
The sharpest confrontation has emerged in Parbhani, where the BJP and the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP joined hands to elect their nominees as ZP president and vice-president, respectively, leaving the Sena out despite an earlier power-sharing agreement. The BJP’s Lata Wakale and the NCP’s Shrikant Vithekar were elected unopposed after the Sena boycotted the election.
According to a formula announced earlier by state BJP president Ravindra Chavan and NCP leader Sunil Tatkare, the BJP was to take the president’s post, the NCP the vice-president’s post, and the Sena a key committee position. Sena leaders said this understanding was set aside at the last minute.
The BJP, however, claimed the Sena was eyeing the president’s post and was simultaneously exploring a tie-up with other parties. BJP leaders alleged that in anticipation of a possible arrangement between the Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT), and the NCP, they opened parallel channels with NCP MLA Rajesh Vitekar and secured support by offering the deputy president’s post to his brother.
Sena leader Anand Jadhav said the party chose to boycott the election after a “breach of trust”. He accused the BJP of using “divide-and-rule tactics” to keep the Sena out of power and alleged a pattern of similar moves in local bodies.
The BJP dismissed the allegations, with district president Suresh Bhumre saying the party had been open to forming the ZP with the Sena but claimed the latter’s insistence on the president’s post derailed talks. He added that the BJP was still willing to accommodate the Sena with a committee chairperson’s post.
The numbers in Parbhani favoured a BJP-Sena combine, with the BJP holding 24 seats, and the Sena five, against the NCP’s 15.
Sambhajinagar, Sangli, Satara
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, differences over the presidency — including tenure-sharing and the first term — led to a breakdown in talks despite the BJP and Sena being the two largest parties. The BJP eventually secured the post with support from Independents and others.
In Sangli, shifting loyalties and internal divisions within the Sena came to the fore. The NCP (SP)’s Sangeeta Patil won the president’s post with 34 votes, defeating the BJP’s candidate, with Sena leaders alleging pressure on their members and last-minute withdrawals.
In Satara, political circles have been abuzz with discussions of BJP leaders attempting to draw the Sena’s Zilla Parishad members as the party falls short of a majority. Sena leaders also pointed to earlier instances in Sambhajinagar where some of their members crossed over, calling it part of a broader pattern to weaken the party at the grassroots.
Alliance under strain
These developments in various districts are in contrast to repeated assertions by state-level leaders of both parties that the Mahayuti remains united and will keep contesting the elections together.
Soon after coming to power in 2024, the coalition experienced strain due to disagreements over portfolios and guardian ministerships, as well as the Sena leadership’s perception that it was being denied adequate political space despite previously heading the government.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s frequent visits to Delhi — often accompanied by meetings and photographs with the BJP’s central leadership — were viewed in political circles as a strategy to counter pressures from the state BJP leadership. However, these “pressure tactics” have seemingly yielded diminishing returns, with the state BJP increasingly holding its ground on key decisions.
The visits themselves have often followed moments when the Sena felt slighted in the state, reinforcing the perception of underlying strain within the alliance even as both sides publicly assert unity.
As the Zilla Parishad leadership elections continue, the contest for control of local bodies is increasingly testing the ruling alliance’s cohesion, raising questions about the stability of the alliance amid unease at the grassroots.