A serious internal rupture has emerged within Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti coalition — comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — after the coalition lost three of five Maharashtra Legislative Council seats contested in Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies. The results, announced on 29 October, have exposed deep coordination failures and localised rivalries that leaders on all sides now acknowledge could harm the alliance going into future elections.

Election Results and the Damage

The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) swept three seats — Pune, Nagpur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates' constituencies — while the Mahayuti managed to retain only the Pune and Amravati Teachers' constituencies. The defeat in the Pune Graduates' seat proved particularly raw: BJP candidate Smita Jadhav lost by approximately 11,000 to 12,000 votes, with Independent candidate Sachin Sanap — reportedly backed by Shiv Sena — drawing roughly 16,000 votes and effectively splitting the coalition vote base.

State BJP Chief Spokesperson Navnath Ban issued a detailed statement documenting what the party termed deliberate sabotage, directly accusing Shiv Sena's Pune chief, Ravindra Dhangekar, of actively campaigning against the official BJP candidate. Ban demanded that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expel Dhangekar immediately.

NCP in the Crossfire

The fault lines extended to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where Shiv Sena minister Abdul Sattar publicly opposed the NCP's official candidate, Satish Chavan — nominated under Sunetra Pawar's leadership — further weakening Mahayuti's prospects in the constituency.

Senior NCP leader and Cabinet Minister Hasan Mushrif expressed deep frustration over coordination failures, warning that internal infighting is directly benefiting the Opposition. Mushrif said that with proper alliance management, key seats such as Pune could have been retained. He also touched on unresolved portfolio distribution, expressing confidence that the Finance Portfolio would soon be allocated to the NCP as promised by the Chief Minister.

Shiv Sena Hits Back

Shiv Sena has firmly rejected the BJP's accusations as baseless. State party spokesperson Anand Paranjape argued that the BJP had fielded a candidate in the Pune Graduate constituency who was not even a BJP member, and that fielding an 'outsider' had itself caused resentment among loyal workers.

'The candidate fielded by the BJP in the Pune Graduate constituency was not even a BJP member. Had the BJP given a ticket to a loyal worker who had dedicated his life and worked with steadfast loyalty for the party, that candidate would certainly have generated enthusiasm among party workers and voters. However, fielding an outsider candidate caused resentment among loyal BJP workers,' Paranjape said.

Paranjape further stated that Shiv Sena had demanded one of the two Pune seats from the outset, and that while Shiv Sena withdrew its official candidate Mangesh Chivate for the Pune Teachers' seat in deference to the coalition, no reciprocal accommodation was extended. 'The notion that "we will contest all seats and win all seats" is not appropriate for the Mahayuti. The BJP must maintain the respect of its alliance partners,' he said.

The EVM Debate and a Sharp BJP Riposte

Navnath Ban also seized on the results to counter Opposition leaders — including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut — who have repeatedly alleged Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering in recent elections. Ban pointed out that these Legislative Council contests were conducted via ballot paper, and yet Congress won only 1 out of 28 seats it contested nationwide, arguing that voter preference consistently favours the NDA regardless of voting medium.

A Warning from Within

State BJP leader Keshav Upadhye offered one of the bluntest assessments: 'The expulsions from the Legislative Council are not proof of the Opposition's success, but evidence of the deeds of some "well-wishers" within the Mahayuti. If the same historical mistake [of 2019] is not to be repeated, the time for self-reflection has come today.' His invocation of 2019 — when the Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray parted ways with the BJP and aligned with Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP — was a pointed reminder of how quickly coalition fractures can unravel Maharashtra's political arithmetic.

With portfolio disputes unresolved and the blame game now public, all three Mahayuti partners face pressure to rebuild trust before the next round of electoral tests — or risk handing the MVA a ready-made campaign narrative.