Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut says situation created by citizenship law didn't benefit BJP in Jharkhand. (File)
As the BJP stared at another disappointment this year in the form of the Jharkhand result, its former ally in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, seized the chance to rub it in. The party took digs at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, noting that the citizenship law had "not benefited" the BJP and caused it to lose "one more state".
"The BJP ruled Jharkhand for five years. Modi-ji and Amit Shah-ji had deployed their full strength. They sought votes in Modi-ji's name. The situation created in the country after the new law did not benefit the BJP in Jharkhand and BJP has lost one more state after Maharashtra," said Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut.
"I think there is a need (for the BJP) to introspect why they have lost Jharkhand after Maharashtra," Mr Raut said.
In Jharkhand too, the BJP lost a key ally, the All Jharkhand Students' Union (AJSU), which is seen to have dented its tally significantly.
The two parties, together since 2014, separated over AJSU's demand for a better share of seats. But they left a window open for a reunion by not contesting each other's strongholds.
In Maharashtra, the BJP and the Shiv Sena fell out after contesting the October polls together. The Sena refused to play second fiddle and insisted that it had been promised an equal share in power. When the BJP rejected the demand, the Shiv Sena turned to its ideological rivals Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the three formed a never-before coalition, the "Maha Vikas Aghadi".
Political watchers say the failure of its alliances in two states shows up BJP's diminishing power of stitching up alliances and keeping them on board.
On the other hand, the opposition has shown better skills at the coalition game in the two states. In Jharkhand, the Congress made it clear who the boss of the opposition alliance is by naming Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) as chief ministerial candidate.
In Maharashtra, the Congress set aside its ideological aversion to the Shiv Sena to keep the BJP out of power.