Mahayuti Alliance Strains Under Defections, Shinde Emphasises Coalition Dharma

Eknath Shinde has fired a veiled but explosive warning shot at his senior ally BJP, declaring in an exclusive television interview that his Shiv Sena “fully follows the principles of coalition dharma” while adding, with unmistakable emphasis, that “our alliance partners should also follow the same.” The carefully worded statement, delivered with a calm smile, has sent shockwaves through political circles in Maharashtra, confirming what insiders have whispered for weeks: the Mahayuti alliance is fracturing from within just months before the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election.

The immediate trigger for the crisis is blatant defections. Last month, barely days after top leaders of both parties shook hands on an informal “non-poaching” pact, several prominent Shiv Sena corporators and grassroots organisers — including Roopsingh Dhal, Ananda Dhoke, Shilparani Wadkar, and Anmol Mhatre — were welcomed into the BJP with garlands and public ceremonies. The open violation of the agreement infuriated Shinde loyalists, who see the civic polls as a make-or-break battle for the party’s survival in its traditional stronghold of Mumbai and Thane.

The bitterness spilled onto the streets on Sunday when rival workers clashed violently in Thane after a BJP event attended by state unit chief Ravindra Chavan. The immediate spark was the earlier defection of former BJP legislator Vikas Mhatre to Shinde’s Shiv Sena, but the deeper anger was directed at what Sena workers call the BJP’s “Operation Lotus” style inducements. Police had to resort to mild lathi-charge to restore order, underlining how quickly internal alliance rivalries are turning into public confrontations.

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Senior Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant, one of Shinde’s closest confidants, stopped short of confirming a cabinet boycott but admitted that “all is not well” and that several ministers have chosen to skip meetings as a mark of protest. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, facing direct questions about reportedly avoiding Shinde during a joint campaign tour, laughed it off and claimed the two leaders missed each other only because of scheduling differences, insisting they remain in daily telephonic contact — a claim that has done little to calm restless cadres on the ground.

Even the third partner in the Mahayuti, Ajit Pawar’s NCP, has now openly mocked the BJP. Senior leader Manikrao Kokate launched a scathing attack, declaring that the saffron party “no longer has anything of its own” and survives only through “constant manipulation and splitting of other parties,” leaving its original workers demoralised and sidelined. As the world’s richest civic body prepares for a bitterly contested election, the deepening cracks in Maharashtra’s ruling coalition threaten to hand the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi a golden opportunity on a platter.

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