The Shiv Sena on Thursday accused its ally, the BJP, of trying to poach MLAs in Maharashtra as the deadline for forming a government drew near. An editorial in the Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana said the party had received complaints that newly elected MLAs were being offered money, but said it was confident they would not defect.

Deadline and the Governor

Sources said the outgoing Assembly had two days left, and a special three-day session might be called the following week to swear in new MLAs. They said a settlement of the BJP-Sena dispute was expected, and a new government could take office before the old Assembly’s term ran out.

BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the party would meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari that day with a message approved by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Sena MP Sanjay Raut said party chief Uddhav Thackeray had not yet received any offer from the BJP. The Sena, which says the BJP agreed to a “50-50” power-sharing formula, wants the chief minister’s post to be rotated. In the election, the BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member House and the Sena 56.

Opposition reactions

Congress leader Sachin Sawant said on Twitter that if even an ally feared the BJP would poach its MLAs, it showed how “morally corrupt” the BJP was, and asked whether the alliance still had the moral right to form a government.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday that voters had asked his party and the Congress to sit in opposition, and urged the BJP and the Sena to form a government quickly. After meeting Raut, he ruled out the NCP joining a Sena-led government with outside Congress support. He noted the BJP and the Sena had been allies for 25 years and would eventually come together, and said the Congress and the NCP had not crossed 100 seats between them.

What happened next

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance broke down, and Uddhav Thackeray became Chief Minister in November 2019 with the support of the NCP and the Congress.

See also: Shiv Sena and Indian National Congress.

Originally published on 7 November 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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