‘Not acceptable’: Devendra Fadnavis orders immediate exit as BJP ties up with Congress, AIMIM

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Reacting Wednesday to the tie-ups in Ambernath and Akot, Fadnavis said, “Alliance with Congress and AIMIM is not acceptable. It will have to be broken. Accordingly, directives have been issued. The matter will be looked into, and disciplinary action will be taken if anybody has violated orders. The BJP cannot accept an alliance with Congress or MIM. We have made it clear.”

Maharashtra BJP chief Ravindra Chavan also issued a show cause notice to party MLA Prakash Bharsakhle, who represents Akot, for the “suo motu” AIMIM alliance. “The state leadership was not consulted in the matter,” the notice stated.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress vice-president Ganesh Patil said in a letter to its Ambernath unit chief that the municipal election was fought on the party’s symbol. “It has come to notice through media reports that you allied with the BJP in the Ambernath municipal council without informing the state office. This is wrong and against party discipline,” the letter stated.

It said that as per the directions of Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal, Pradip Patil has been suspended and the block Congress committee dissolved. “In addition, all corporators have been suspended from the party for violating party discipline,” it said.

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Pradip Patil, however, accused Sapkal for not giving him a hearing before announcing the disciplinary action, and threatened to join the BJP. “We respect the Congress and will continue to do so in future. But if you are going to insult us, then we have no option but to join the BJP,” he said.

Why BJP formed the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi

The BJP had formed the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi in a bid to keep the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena out of power although they are partners in the state’s ruling alliance. The BJP had won the municipal chairman post but the Sena emerged as the single largest party in the council by winning 27 seats.

The Ambernath alliance submitted a letter to the Thane district collector, announcing BJP’s Abhijeet Gulabrao Karanjule-Patil as leader of the group comprising 31 members: 14 BJP, 12 Congress, 4 Ajit Pawar-led NCP, 1 Independent. Consequently, corporators from the member parties were required to follow the group leader’s whip in all matters.

Both Shinde and state BJP chief Ravindra Chavan hail from Thane district, and the local tussle is seen as a spillover of the political rivalry between the senior leaders.

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In Akot, elections were held for 33 of 35 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 11 seats, followed by Congress (6), AIMIM (5), Prahar Janshakti Party (3), Thackeray-led Sena (2), VBA (2), Ajit Pawar-led NCP (2), Sharad Pawar-led NCP (1) and Shinde-led Sena (1).

The BJP established the Akot Vikas Manch by allying with the AIMIM, both factions of Shiv Sena, both factions of NCP and Prahar Janshakti Party. The registration of this alliance was submitted to the Akola district collector on Tuesday with BJP corporator Ravi Thakur to serve as the group leader.

Both these alliances were set to vote collectively during the elections for the deputy president and co-opted members of the two municipal councils scheduled for January 13.

Former AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan said there “is no question of allying with the BJP at any cost” because “we have two different ideologies”. But Yusuf Punjani, Akola in-charge for the party, acknowledged that a “city-level front” was formed.

“I was told by our corporators that since there was no majority with any party, a local, city-level front was formed to ensure smooth functioning of the municipal council in which AIMIM corporators joined. But the corporators have been instructed to withdraw from the front as it has Mahayuti parties in it. In case they fail to do so, the party will take legal action against them,” Punjani said.