The demand has exposed tensions within the BJP-led coalition, with Shiv Sena leaders arguing that the electoral setback demonstrates the need for different leadership. BJP representatives have rejected the suggestion and defended Fadnavis, while acknowledging shortcomings in the alliance’s election campaign.
Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Dhangekar said the results reflected dissatisfaction among educated young voters, particularly graduates preparing for competitive examinations and seeking government employment. He attributed their discontent to allegations of examination paper leaks and irregularities in recruitment.
Dhangekar argued that Shinde, who previously served as chief minister, maintained stronger connections with ordinary voters and could restore confidence in the government. He called for a change of leadership, presenting the election results as evidence that the coalition needed to reassess its political approach.
Former Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar supported the demand, describing Shinde as an experienced leader whose political standing had been acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Sattar maintained that Shinde had played a central role in bringing the Mahayuti alliance to power and remained capable of leading the coalition. He said Shiv Sena leaders wanted their party chief to return as chief minister, although no formal decision on replacing Fadnavis has been announced.
BJP leader Pravin Darekar rejected the leadership demand, defending Fadnavis’s performance and questioning the motives of those advocating his replacement. He accused the Shiv Sena figures making the demand of pursuing an agenda against the chief minister.
The disagreement followed a disappointing performance by Mahayuti in elections held on October 23. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi secured three seats, while the ruling coalition won two. Counting began on October 27, with the closely contested Nagpur result confirmed after prolonged scrutiny of ballots.
Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari retained the Nagpur graduates’ constituency, defeating BJP nominee Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes. Wanjari received 67,231 votes against Kohale’s 63,960, securing another term despite an intensive campaign by the ruling party.
Nagpur carries considerable political significance because it is Fadnavis’s home city and also the political base of Union minister Nitin Gadkari. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, regarded as the BJP’s ideological parent organisation, has its headquarters there.
The BJP had sought to recover the constituency after losing it to Congress in 2020. Wanjari’s victory therefore represented a failure to regain a seat that the party and its predecessor had controlled for decades, rather than the loss of an incumbent BJP-held constituency.
The BJP also lost the Pune graduates’ constituency, where the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar secured victory. That opposition party additionally captured the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar graduates’ seat.
Mahayuti’s victories came through BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade in the Pune teachers’ constituency and Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sarnaik in the Amravati teachers’ constituency. The Nationalist Congress Party faction headed by Sunetra Pawar failed to win its allotted seat.
The results have triggered competing accusations over coordination among coalition partners. Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that Shiv Sena had failed to provide the expected support to alliance candidates in constituencies where the BJP was contesting.
Shiv Sena representatives countered that the BJP had disregarded the political interests of its partners during seat-sharing negotiations. Dhangekar argued that the larger party should stop taking its allies for granted, citing the election outcome as a warning against unilateral decisions.
Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the party would examine the reasons for its defeat and determine whether alliance partners had fulfilled their campaign responsibilities.
Bawankule, who oversaw the Nagpur campaign, accepted responsibility for shortcomings and said the coalition would review whether instructions from party leaderships had been followed at constituency level.
He also acknowledged that coordination had been inadequate in some places, despite BJP legislators and parliamentarians campaigning for the Shiv Sena candidate in Amravati.
The Pune contests had already exposed disagreements before polling, with Shiv Sena supporting an independent candidate against the BJP in the teachers’ constituency. BJP leaders have identified such competing candidatures as matters requiring examination during the alliance’s proposed review of the election results.
