Cracks in Mahayuti: BJP to not campaign for Shiv Sena's Abdul Sattar in Sillod, cites Lok Sabha polls

Not all is well in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra weeks ahead of the upcoming high-voltage assembly elections in the state. The local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Sillod assembly constituency in the state's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district has decided to not campaign for Shiv Sena's candidate Abdul Sattar from the seat. 

Abdul Sattar has been fielded against Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Suresh Bankar in Sillod, news agency PTI reported.

The local BJP unit told the state leadership of their decision to not campaign for Sattar. Sillod BJP president Kamlesh Kataria said that Sattar has been talking about "finishing" the saffron party in the assembly seat and threatening its workers. 

"We will not campaign for Sattar in the Sillod assembly constituency. Though Sattar is the Mahayuti's candidate, he speaks of finishing the BJP from Sillod. He threatens BJP workers and lodges fake complaints against them," Kataria alleged.

Kataria claimed that Abdul Sattar openly campaigned for Congress' Kalyan Kale in the Lok Sabha elections, leading former Union minister Raosaheb Danve to lose his seat. 

The BJP's first priority is national interest and in this context, Sattar is not a fit candidate, he said.

"I have sent a letter to state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informing that we will not campaign for Sattar," Kataria added.

Abdul Sattar won from the seat in the 2009 and 2014 assembly elections on a Congress ticket. Later, he joined the undivided Shiv Sena and successfully contested the 2019 election on its ticket. 

After the Shiv Sena split in 2022, Sattar joined the faction led by Eknath Shinde and became the cabinet minister in the Mahayuti government. The ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra comprises Shiv Sena, BJP and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). 

Voting across the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra will take place on November 20 in a single phase. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on November 23.