MLC Polls Verdict: Bickering In Mahayuti Bloc, Akhilesh Claims Existential Crisis In BJP Due To SP's Performance

With the legislative council election results delivering a mixed verdict, fissures emerged on Thursday in Maharashtra's BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance with the partners indulging in allegations and counter-allegations over their performance while a buoyant Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed his party's performance in Uttar Pradesh has triggered an existential crisis within the BJP.

Elections for 28 seats in Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were held on October 23. The NDA partners won 16 seats, the SP five, the NCP (SP) two and the Congress, the RJD and the Jan Suraaj Party one seat each. Two Independent candidates in Bihar emerged victorious.

The Congress, which managed to win just one seat, hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his taunt at the opposition party's showing, saying he must stop trolling and sermonising others and focus on dealing with "back-breaking" inflation and private investment deficit.

Modi had on Wednesday mocked the Congress after its dismal show despite the use of paper ballots, a key demand of opposition parties in their campaign against EVMs.

Mahayuti Rifts and Political Opposition

In Maharashtra, where the ruling Mahayuti bloc bagged two seats compared to Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi's three, the BJP accused ally Shiv Sena of non-cooperation and undermining the alliance.

BJP chief spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that the Shiv Sena did not fulfil its alliance obligations in the Pune and Nagpur constituencies and its last-minute support to independent candidate Sachin Sanap in Pune (for teachers’ seat) dented the Mahayuti's unity.

He also accused Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar of campaigning against the NCP in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, contributing to the alliance's setbacks.

BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane said it should be seen whether there were any "Shakuni mamas" within the Mahayuti alliance.

"It is time to find out whether there are any 'Shakuni mamas' within Mahayuti who follow the scripts that (Shiv Sena - UBT chief) Uddhav Thackeray likes," he said.

Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Dhangekar, a former MLA, demanded a change of guard, saying deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde should assume the top post from Devendra Fadnavis.

Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar said her party would introspect following the results.

Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal called for serious introspection by the ruling Mahayuti alliance and his own party.

Describing the voters as educated and politically aware, he said they were moving away from the NCP and their views could influence a wider section of the public.

With both the Varanasi Graduates' and the Lucknow Graduates' seats going to the SP, results of which were officially declared on Thursday, Akhilesh Yadav described the BJP's performance as a "double defeat" and said the results will lay the groundwork for his party's victory in the 2027 assembly polls.

Yadav said the BJP's defeat "was the defeat of its policies concerning teachers, students and education" and "the educated unemployed graduates had also delivered their verdict" against the party.

He said the way the BJP caused distress, suffering and humiliation across social groups had brought together all those who felt aggrieved.

He claimed that the results have triggered an existential crisis within the BJP as everyone knows that it won through tampering, and the party's internal rifts have further intensified tension between the two engines of the government.

"None of our candidates has actually lost; they just could not win in the face of the BJP's manipulation," Yadav claimed, adding that the party considered them winners even without certificates.

As Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari was declared the winner in the Nagpur Division Graduates' constituency seat early morning, the party asked Modi to introspect.

Congress Counterattack and National Fallout

"The Prime Minister needs to introspect, but instead, he's sermonising others! Before counting Congress's seats, I wish he'd also reflect on why the BJP lost both seats in his own parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, and how Congress managed to defeat the BJP in RSS's stronghold of Nagpur," party leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

"Mr. Modi, stop the trolling. Crores of families are reeling from back-breaking inflation, the youth are unemployed, and private investment has ground to a halt," he said.

Drop the arrogance and reflect on these issues, Ramesh said.

"From Varanasi and Nagpur to Lucknow, Prayagraj, and Patna, the people have clearly passed a no-confidence motion against your policies," the Congress leader wrote.

JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said the Congress has consistently demanded elections through ballot papers, but its performance should prompt it to introspect.

"These MLC elections to 28 seats were held using ballot papers. However, if one looks at the results in these four states, the Congress could barely manage to win a seat, in Nagpur," he said.

He also asked Rahul Gandhi to rethink his party's strategy after its performance, and focus on public issues instead of questioning the EC and the electoral system.