MUMBAI: The fault line in the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance widened after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde led the Shiv Sena to revolt against Mahayuti’s official candidates in the biennial elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, scheduled for October 23, 2026.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that elections to five MLC seats in Maharashtra are scheduled for October 23, with counting on October 27, 2026. The five MLC seats going to the polls include three graduate constituencies — Sambhaji Nagar, Pune and Nagpur — and two teachers’ constituencies — Amravati and Pune.
Sources said that Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is the president of the Shiv Sena, held a meeting with his party leaders at his Nandanvan bungalow in Thane, where the decision to revolt against the BJP in Pune and the NCP in Sambhaji Nagar was taken. In the meeting, it was also decided to extend support to opposition candidates.
“Shiv Sena is not happy with the MLC election seat distribution. Shiv Sena has been given stepmotherly treatment. The dissatisfaction with the BJP has been growing, and that has resulted in the Shiv Sena’s revolt against the BJP in the MLC elections. Shiv Sena was keen to contest the Pune Teachers’ constituency and Sambhaji Nagar Graduates’ constituency elections, but the BJP and NCP refused to concede both seats. The BJP cannot take Shiv Sena for granted, even though it is an old alliance partner,” said a Shiv Sena leader who requested anonymity.
In the Pune Teachers’ constituency, the Shiv Sena has extended support to independent candidate Sachin Sanap instead of backing the BJP’s official candidate, while in Sambhaji Nagar, Shiv Sena MLA and former Maharashtra minister Abdul Sattar has extended support to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Dr Pratapsingh Patil in the Graduates’ constituency elections, revolting against NCP candidate Satish Chavan.
A Shiv Sena leader alleged that, because of the BJP’s big-daddy attitude and conduct, alliance partners are losing the political and electoral space they once enjoyed in Maharashtra.
“If we do not oppose and express ourselves now, then one day, Shiv Sena will be finished in Maharashtra. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to revolt openly in the larger interest of Shiv Sena and its cadre. Besides, it is better for the BJP to understand the importance of its alliance partners,” the Sena leader said.