As Maharashtra mourns the loss of 26 lives in the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam, the incident has cast a glaring spotlight on the simmering tensions within the Mahayuti government. Instead of a united front in the face of tragedy, the state’s top leadership has found itself embroiled in a subtle tug-of-war for credit and visibility.

In a prompt response to the attack, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis acted swiftly by dispatching BJP minister Girish Mahajan to Srinagar, establishing him as the state’s liaison with the Jammu & Kashmir administration. Reinforcing the BJP’s presence back home, leaders Ashish Shelar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha were deployed to Mumbai airport to oversee the arrival of victims and assist returning tourists. Minister of State Madhuri Misal was assigned similar duties in Pune.

However, the efforts of the BJP were soon mirrored—and perhaps strategically matched—by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Steering an independent course, Shinde flew to Srinagar aboard a special flight, accompanied by a parallel team of his Shiv Sena faction’s ministers: Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, and Yogesh Kadam at Mumbai airport, and Prakash Arbitkar at Pune.

This dual-track approach to crisis management has raised eyebrows, especially as both camps appeared to orchestrate overlapping efforts. Shinde’s personal visit to Srinagar included a hospital stop to meet a terror attack victim from Raigad district. He later announced that his intervention ensured the safe return of 70 stranded tourists and the scheduling of additional flights for nearly 200 more.

While Shinde insisted that his visit was focused purely on relief work, the optics of parallel operations told a different story. His aides took the opportunity to criticize the BJP for allegedly not taking alliance partners into confidence while planning the response, claiming that better coordination could have avoided the confusion.

This episode has rekindled longstanding tensions between the two principal Mahayuti constituents. Allegations of the BJP marginalizing Shinde in favour of NCP leader Ajit Pawar have previously surfaced, particularly concerning portfolio distributions and administrative influence.