Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has revealed that the BJP and Shiv Sena parted ways in 2014 over a dispute concerning four assembly seats. He stated that while he supported maintaining the alliance, senior BJP leaders had other plans
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Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis has revealed that the first split between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the then-undivided Shiv Sena in 2014 occurred due to a dispute over just four assembly seats during the state elections. According to PTI, Fadnavis made this statement while speaking at an event in Mumbai on Monday night, held to felicitate Sikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur, who was the BJP’s Maharashtra in-charge at the time.
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Fadnavis explained that the BJP had planned to contest 127 seats in the 288-member state assembly elections and had offered the Shiv Sena 147 seats. However, the latter remained adamant about contesting 151 seats, leading to the alliance’s breakdown. “We gave the Shiv Sena an ultimatum to accept 147 seats, while we contested 127, despite our confidence in winning over 200 seats,” said Fadnavis, as per PTI reports. He added that under this arrangement, the Shiv Sena would have held the chief minister’s post, while the BJP would have its deputy chief minister.
However, the alliance talks failed as Shiv Sena refused to concede ground. “We were informed that the ‘yuvaraj’ (crown prince) had already announced that they would contest 151 seats, and they were unwilling to retract that number,” said Fadnavis, without explicitly naming anyone. As per PTI, he suggested that fate had ultimately played its role in paving his way to the chief ministerial position.
Fadnavis also recounted discussions with senior BJP leader Amit Shah during that period. “We spoke with Amit Shah and expressed our concerns about how we were being treated. He discussed the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ultimately, Shah, Mathur, and I were convinced that we could put up a strong fight in the 2014 assembly elections,” he said.
In response to Fadnavis’ remarks, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut stated on Tuesday that while many developments transpired at the time, the BJP’s senior leadership had already planned to sever ties with Shiv Sena. “Negotiations over seat-sharing dragged on for 72 hours. Om Mathur was BJP’s Maharashtra in-charge back then. I will admit honestly that Fadnavis was in favour of maintaining the alliance. He wanted it to continue, but the party’s senior leaders had other plans,” Raut alleged, as per PTI.
Following the breakdown of the alliance, both parties contested the 2014 state elections separately. However, post-election, the Shiv Sena eventually allied with the BJP again to form the government under Fadnavis’ leadership.
The rift between the two parties resurfaced after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, this time over the issue of sharing the chief minister’s post. The Shiv Sena later parted ways with the BJP and formed a coalition government with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, led by Uddhav Thackeray. The political turmoil within the Shiv Sena escalated in 2022 when a faction of its MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, rebelled against Thackeray’s leadership, leading to a formal split within the party.
(With inputs from ANI)
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