The shocking defeat of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the Maharashtra assembly elections has reportedly sparked murmurs in the tripartite alliance, with Shiv Sena (UBT) dropping hints at its plans to go solo in the future polls.
According to media reports, a section of the Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders are of the view that the party should contest on its own the next elections, possibly starting with the civic bodies polls, and rebuild the party afresh in the state.
Leader of Opposition (Council) Ambadas Danve was quoted by news agency IANS as saying that some of the Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders were of the opinion that the party failed to get the desired support in the alliance.
“Some of our leaders have opined that the Shiv Sena (UBT) failed to get the desired support in the MVA-INDIA bloc and suggested that the party should rebuild itself for all the 288 Assembly seats for the future elections, and fight on its own strength,” he said.
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Responding to Danve’s remarks, state Congress president Nana Patole said everyone has the right to express their views.
Another senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, however, claimed that just like Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, those in the Congress also wanted to fight the elections alone. He was quick to add that those remarks cannot be the decision of the party.
“We are in the process of analysing the result and causes of our defeat. Even during the peak of the Modi wave, we performed better than the present outcome and it is because of this we have doubts about EVMs," he said.
The three MVA parties—Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP(SP)—have been holding separate meetings to examine the election results that came as a rude shock to the bloc which was aiming a strong comeback to power in the politically crucial state.
The opposition alliance managed to win only 46 seats in the 288-member assembly while the ruling Mahayuti bagged 230 seats. Among the MVA parties, Shiv Sena secured more seats, winning 20 constituencies, while the Congress and the NCP(SP) bagged 16 and 10 seats respectively.