CM Shinde's diktat to partymen: Show good results in your Lok Sabha areas, or else...

Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis

Is the chief minister concerned that his partymen may not work wholeheartedly in all areas where the Mahayuti alliance candidates of the Ajit Pawar NCP and BJP will contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections? Sources on Thursday told mid-day that it is very much so, and that Eknath Shinde recently gathered his party MLAs for a meeting in Mumbai where, it is reliably learnt, they were told to ensure good results for the allies, failing which there will be trouble for their party in the year-ending Assembly polls.

A Shinde Sena leader, speaking to mid-day on condition of anonymity, said the CM did not directly say that a poor showing in an ally's Lok Sabha seat will result in them being stripped of their MLA ticket. But that was more or less the gist of the diktat. "Shinde-saheb did mention that if one fails to maintain the lead in the parliamentary elections, it could impact the prospects of our candidates during the Assembly polls," the leader added.

Unease in grassroots

Following unease among the party rank-and-file even as the three allies are struggling to accept a seat-sharing formula, Shinde recently called for the meeting of MLAs to assuage them that the situation is under control. It was in this meeting that Shinde told party leaders to give their best to ensure massive wins for all Mahayuti candidates, irrespective of which party they are from.

Erstwhile unified NCP leaders and unified Sena leaders never see eye-to-eye in the hinterland, where the two parties were bitter enemies over decades. The recent splits in the two parties have resulted in one faction each getting into an alliance on either side of the political divide. The Sharad Pawar faction is aligned with the Uddhav Sena, while the Ajit Pawar faction is allied with the Shinde Sena.

True, but nothing special

Shiv Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske confirmed to mid-day that the CM has indeed asked the MLAs and former corporators to ensure good results in their respective constituencies, but sought to downplay the development. "This is not the first time this is happening," said Mhaske. "During every election, the party calls for meetings and urges its leaders to ensure a good show in their respective areas. But, the CM did not warn that this will affect our candidature in the next Assembly election."

How the numbers stack up

Since the split in the Sena, 41 MLAs and 13 MPs have joined the Shinde camp. These include six MLAs from the 14 in Mumbai and two MPs out of three in the city. The faction has a further 40 ex-corporators across municipalities.

Shinde's instructions also assume significance as senior party leader Anandrao Adsul has already announced is opposition to Navneet Rana's candidature, saying he will take on the rabble-rouser in Amravati, which has been witnessing an ugly power tussle between BJP and Shinde camps.

Adsul has thrice contested the seat, successfully in 2009 and 2014, and unsuccessfully in 2019 on a unified Shiv Sena ticket, being defeated by Rana, who later joined the BJP. After the Sena rebellion, Adsul sided with the Shinde camp and was expecting a ticket again.

Many are upset

Also on Thursday, Shinde leader Arjun Khotkar told the media that the BJP should show some respect to Sena leaders while discussing seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha seats or it might not go down well with the party cadre, which in turn may affect the poll outcome. "Since the BJP has announced its list, I have urged the CM to declare 13 seats (all reigning Shinde Sena seats)," said Khotkar. "But, this did not happen." Khotkar was a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government when he joined the Shinde faction. In fact, while quitting Uddhav Thackeray's party, Khotkar in his press conference said he had joined Shinde camp due to "certain circumstances and problems".

More discontent

There are differences between the Shinde Sena and BJP over several other seats like South Mumbai, North-West Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Dharashiv (Osmanabad). The unified Shiv Sena candidates had won these seats in 2019. Today, only Gajanan Kirtikar, the Mumbai North-West MP is with Shinde Sena, while all other winners are with the Uddhav camp. There are murmurs of anger in other seats too, like Nashik, and Yavatmal-Washim. While sitting MP Hemant Godse from Nashik is with Shinde Sena and wants to contest from there, BJP and Ajit Pawar faction of NCP have also staked a claim on the constituency. Bhavana Gawli from Shinde Sena is the sitting MP from Yavatmal-Washim and is in the race, but the BJP has staked a claim on this seat too.