Mahayuti poaching war escalates: After Eknath Shinde’s warning, BJP again inducts 2 Shiv Sena leaders in Dombivli; alliance rift widens

THANE: After Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s statement that both Mahayuti partners — the Shiv Sena and the BJP — must follow the alliance principles (Yuti Dharma) and refrain from poaching each other’s workers, the BJP on Wednesday once again inducted two Shiv Sena office-bearers, Vikas Desale and Abhijit Tharwal, into the party in Dombivli.

Following the induction, Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh More held a press conference targeting BJP state president Ravindra Chavan. He accused Chavan of violating the principles of the Mahayuti alliance and strongly objected to the BJP’s continued acceptance of Shiv Sena members. More claimed that several BJP leaders and former corporators were willing to join the Shiv Sena, but the party had refrained from inducting them to honour the alliance dharma.

During the same press conference, Shiv Sena Deputy District President Rajesh Kadam alleged that the BJP state president had been visiting the homes of Shiv Sena workers and offering them various inducements to switch sides.

Soon after the Sena’s briefing, BJP Kalyan district president Nandu Parab responded with his own press conference. He accused Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde of being the first to violate the alliance principles in the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency. Parab claimed that despite senior leaders of both parties recently agreeing to adhere to Yuti Dharma, the Shiv Sena again broke the alliance by inducting BJP office-bearer Roslyn Fernandes in Ambernath. He said Wednesday’s induction of two Shiv Sena leaders into the BJP was a direct response to that move.

When a reporter asked Parab that the BJP had first inducted Shiv Sena’s former Ambernath corporator Surendra Yadav, Parab countered that the Shiv Sena had initially broken the alliance principles in Malvan through the actions of Nilesh Rane, and the chain of violations began from there.

Parab added that he had now received instructions from the party president not to induct any more Shiv Sena office-bearers. However, he warned that if the Shiv Sena continued to poach BJP leaders, then for every BJP member taken, the BJP would induct two Shiv Sena office-bearers into their party.

It is worth noting that over the past month, both parties have repeatedly targeted each other by inducting rival party functionaries in the Kalyan Lok Sabha region, escalating tensions to the point where top leadership from both sides has complained about repeated violations of the alliance principles.