How Arnab's Interview Broke The BJP-Congress Alliance In Maharashtra's Ambernath

New Delhi: The political landscape of Maharashtra shifted within minutes of Republic Media Network Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami’s explosive interview with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Confronted with straight questions regarding ideologically mismatched local alliances, Fadnavis took immediate action, ordering the BJP to snap ties with the Congress in Ambernath and the AIMIM in Akot.

The Interview That Broke BJP-Cong Alliance

During the interview, Arnab Goswami pressed Fadnavis on how the BJP could justify a tactical understanding with the Congress at the local level while maintaining a national stance of a "Congress-mukt Bharat." Fadnavis, appearing caught off guard by the specific details of the Ambernath arrangement, was categorical in his response: “It should not happen at all... I will not accept it.”

Explaining the disconnect between state leadership and grassroots tactics, Fadnavis stated: "These are small cities. Decisions are made at the local level many times. We don’t get all the decisions... sometimes local leaders have so much enmity [with allies] that they take someone else. But this is wrong."

Impact 1: BJP Breaks Up With Congress in Ambernath

The controversy erupted from the coalition of parties with distinctly different ideologies for "Ambernath Vikas Aghadi," which consists of 14 council members from the BJP, a BJP-backed municipal president, 12 council members from the Congress, 4 council members from NCP (Ajit Pawar) and one Independent candidate.

BJP, in a rare move, entered into an alliance with Congress to gain control over the Ambernath municipal council to keep out its ally Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena won the highest number of 27 seats, just four shy of a majority in the 60-member House. BJP, on the other hand, won 14 seats, Congress won 12, Ajit Pawar's NCP won 4 seats, and two seats went to independent candidates, prompting BJP to ally with Congress and Ajit Pawar's NCP.

BJP also formed a similar alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and several other parties in the Akot Municipal Council in Akola district.

Following the interview, the alliances were ordered to be dissolved immediately.

Impact 2: Congress Suspends 12 Members

The impact of Fadnavis' decision was felt deeply within the Congress camp. Shortly after the interview aired, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) suspended 12 corporators and the Ambernath block president, Pradeep Patil, for "breach of party discipline."

In a formal letter, MPCC Vice President Ganesh Patil stated that forming an alliance with the BJP without informing the state office was "extremely wrong" and violated the party’s core ideological positioning.

Fadnavis' Clear Message

The immediate dissolution of these alliances indicate the tension between local "political convenience" and high-level party ideology. By intervening shortly after the interview with Arnab Goswami, Devendra Fadnavis has sent a clear message to grassroots leaders: national optics will no longer be sacrificed for local power-sharing.

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