With eyes on civic body polls, BJP and Shiv Sena reach a truce in late-night meeting between Fadnavis and Shinde

The sources said the discussions were “positive,” with both parties agreeing to jointly contest municipal elections across Maharashtra, including in Mumbai and Thane, and other parts of the state as the Mahayuti.

“Local-level discussions to finalise seat-sharing, ward-level coordination, and campaign responsibilities are expected to begin over the next two to three days,” the source said.

The meeting also saw a discussion on a key organisational decision.

“Office-bearers and workers from the BJP and Shiv Sena will not be allowed to switch between the parties, a move aimed at preventing the kind of internal friction and accusations of poaching that had surfaced during the recent municipal council and nagar panchayat elections,” the source said.

The local body polls had exposed the alliance’s fragility at the grassroots level. In several municipal councils and nagar panchayats, the BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena candidates ended up in direct contests against each other.

The elections witnessed parallel campaigns, mutual accusations, and clashes between workers, leaving many voters confused about the Mahayuti’s unity. Although top leaders repeatedly described these fights as “friendly contests,” the episodes highlighted how local rivalries can escalate and threaten coalition cohesion.

Observers feel that the meeting shows a direct effort by both parties to learn from the earlier experience in municipal council polls. They said by agreeing to coordinate and maintain organisational discipline, the Mahayuti aims to prevent internal tensions from undermining its performance in key urban centres like Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Pimpri-Chinchwad, where winning the civic polls is seen as essential to consolidating political influence and maintaining public credibility.

According to sources in Sena, the meeting of BJP-Sena leaders took place post the internal meeting of Sena MLAs and ministers during which Sena MLAs and ministers expressed their displeasure against Ravindra Chavan to Shinde.

The source said that MLAs said that Chavan’s functioning is creating issues in different districts and cities and he is not following the alliance dharma.

Later, Shinde told his party’s leaders that the Mahayuti will fight as a united front in the upcoming municipal corporation and zilla parishad polls and there should not be poaching of any alliance partner’s leaders.

A senior Sena leader confirmed the development saying, “we have been instructed to follow the ‘alliance dharma’ and not make any statement or take any step that would lead to a conflict within the Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Sena and NCP and accordingly it would be followed.”

While no BJP leader openly made any statement about the meeting and decision taken during the meeting, a senior BJP leader confirmed the development and said, “It has been decided to bury the differences and put up a united fight in the BMC and TMC polls and also ensure that no allies poach each other’s leaders or take any step that would lead to internal infighting.”