Will 52-year-old Nitin Gadkari's elevation as Bharatiya Janata Party president change the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance equation in Maharashtra? The over two-decade long Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, engineered by slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, has held till date. Now, with Gadkari at the helm of affairs in BJP, there is growing speculation about its status in the backdrop of recent developments.
The latest development, which could damage the already fragile ties between Sena and BJP, is reports that Sena did not give its second preference votes to BJP during the voting for Legislative Council seats from local self-government bodies on Friday. For the two seats from Mumbai, which saw a triangular fight, the Shiv Sena and the Congress seem better placed than the BJP, with Sena, which has the highest number of corporators in the civic body, not casting second preferencevotes for ally BJP.
The Sena had nominated former Leader of the Opposition Ramdas Kadam, who lost the Assembly elections from Guhagar in Raigad district, while the BJP had fielded incumbent MLC Madhu Chavan. Congress fielded trade union leader Bhai Jagtap, who lost the Assembly polls from suburban Jogeshwari. "By not voting for the BJP candidate, the Sena has indirectly helped the Congress," a BJP
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