Differences have emerged within Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance over the Council election results, with Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Dhangekar calling for Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to be made Chief Minister again.Leaders of the BJP, the ruly ally of Shiv Sena, reacted sharply to the former MLA's remarks, saying the mandate in the 2024 Assembly elections was for Devendra Fadnavis to become Chief Minister.Dhangekar told reporters in Pune that the Council election results reflected people's views about the Fadnavis-led government. "When there are doubts about the state government's image, such results are a reflection of it. When Eknath Shinde was chief minister, he helped Mahayuti come to power.

Shinde should again become chief minister," he said.Senior BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and MLC Pravin Darekar criticised Dhangekar on Thursday. Bawankule said Maharashtra's voters had given a mandate to make Fadnavis chief minister and that Dhangekar had no authority to comment on the matter. "Out of 149 contested seats in the 2024 Assembly elections, the BJP won 137," Bawankule said, according to news agency PTI.Darekar said Dhangekar should "stay within his limits". "The state is progressing like never before under Fadnavis's leadership.

He hates Fadnavis so much that he never misses an opportunity to criticise him," the BJP leader said. "We never made any comment against your leadership and will never do so. We will not tolerate your attempts to tarnish Fadnavis's image," Darekar added.Of the five graduates' and teachers' constituencies of the Council that went to the polls on October 23, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi won three, while the Mahayuti alliance secured two.Earlier in the day, Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that the Shiv Sena led by Shinde had not fulfilled its alliance obligations in the Pune and Nagpur constituencies.The Council results have thus intensified disagreements within the Mahayuti, with a Shiv Sena leader seeking Shinde's return as chief minister and BJP leaders defending Fadnavis's leadership.- Ends